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44% of U.S. workers [aged 18-64] are employed in low-wage jobs that pay median annual wages of $18,000 | Only 30 million Americans have "good jobs"

RastaMentality

RastaMentality

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,147
  • Almost half of U.S. workers between ages 18 to 64 are employed in low-wage jobs, the Brookings Institution found.
  • Low-wage jobs are pervasive, representing between one-third to two-thirds of all jobs in the country's almost 400 metropolitan areas.
  • Smaller cities in the South and West tend to have the highest share, such as Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Jacksonville, North Carolina, where more than 6 in 10 workers are in low-wage work.
So what makes a good job? Simply put, middle-class wages and benefits like health insurance, according to previous research from Brookings. But only about 30 million Americans have good jobs by that definition — and most of those are held by workers with college degrees, it found.
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Most of the 53 million Americans working in low-wage jobs are adults in their prime working years, or between about 25 to 54, they noted. Their median hourly wage is $10.22 per hour — that's above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour but well below what's considered the living wage for many regions.
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Low-wage jobs represent between one-third to two-thirds of all jobs in the country's almost 400 metropolitan areas, Brookings found. Smaller cities in the South and West tend to have the highest share, such as Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Jacksonville, North Carolina, where more than 60% of workers are low-wage.

But not only small cities in the South and West have a high proportion of low-paid jobs, the Brookings authors noted.

"Places with some of the highest wages and most productive economies are home to large numbers of low-wage workers: nearly one million in the Washington, D.C., region, 700,000 each in Boston and San Francisco, and 560,000 in Seattle," Ross and Bateman wrote.
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www.cbsnews.com

Almost half of all Americans work in low-wage jobs

The low-wage workforce is part of every local U.S. economy, but it takes the biggest toll in the South and West.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
 

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
Yeah, unemployment rate doesn't mean shit when you've got terrible paying jobs with terrible benefits.
 
Massicot

Massicot

RPG Site
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
2,232
United States
Soriku said:
What income level is a "good" job?
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Followed a couple links to here: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-conten...ity-Industries_Report_Shearer-Shah.pdf#page=6

Seems like 14 to 23 dollars per hour (30k a year at the low end or 47k a year in San Fran..)

"Good jobs pay at least a metropolitan area's median annual earnings for full-time, year-round sub-baccalaureate workers and provide employer-sponsored health insurance. Setting the pay threshold in this way ensures that it reflects variations in pay and costs of living across metropolitan areas. This threshold ranges from a low of $13.78 an hour, or about $28,660 per year, in the McAllen, Texas metropolitan area to a high of $22.46 per hour, or about $46,710 per year, in the San Francisco, Calif. metropolitan area. "
 
Sleuth Semanticist

Sleuth Semanticist

Member
Oct 27, 2017
568
Omaha
Record low unemployment rate tho 😏

but seriously, i have a ton of fear about automation because of factors like these. It seems unlikely that society will catch up in civil rights and social services/safety nets before automation or outsourcing run rampant. If anything, I'd say these are symptoms of the state's failure to respond to earlier waves of automation and outsourcing. History's like an ouroboros.
 
Xaszatm

Xaszatm

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,903
But guys! Unemployment is low! Come on guys! This is good for the economy!!! /s
 
Failburger

Failburger

Banned
Dec 3, 2018
2,455
Yup, which is why I spent most of my adult life constantly staying ahead of the curve. Switching careers, minImizing expenses, staying single, and so on.

Retirement for our generation isn't going to be beaches and traveling. Nope. It's going to be about being able to die a comfortable death instead at some mass hospice surrounded by the poor and sick.
 
Huncho_Houdini

Huncho_Houdini

Member
Dec 31, 2017
7,129
Yeahp, outlook is bleak.

18k a year is a very low wage. For a single person the poverty threshold is 12-13k.
 
Tom Penny

Tom Penny

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,410
Most peoples pay is in direct relation to the service They provide. If It's a job that most people can do you aren't getting paid well in general. That's not changing ever.
 
Knight613

Knight613

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,905
San Francisco
Massicot said:
Followed a couple links to here: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-conten...ity-Industries_Report_Shearer-Shah.pdf#page=6

Seems like 14 to 23 dollars per hour (30k a year at the low end or 47k a year in San Fran..)

"Good jobs pay at least a metropolitan area's median annual earnings for full-time, year-round sub-baccalaureate workers and provide employer-sponsored health insurance. Setting the pay threshold in this way ensures that it reflects variations in pay and costs of living across metropolitan areas. This threshold ranges from a low of $13.78 an hour, or about $28,660 per year, in the McAllen, Texas metropolitan area to a high of $22.46 per hour, or about $46,710 per year, in the San Francisco, Calif. metropolitan area. "
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Where can you live on 46k a year in SF lol
 
Rygar 8Bit

Rygar 8Bit

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,002
Site-15
Don't worry the cost of living will continue to rise, but not wages. Whats the worst that can happen when almost half of your population only gets low paying wages? Let them eat cake.
 
Xaszatm

Xaszatm

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,903
Tom Penny said:
Most peoples pay is in direct relation to the service They provide. If It's a job that most people can do you aren't getting paid well in general. That's not changing ever.
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Ok, why do EMT's get paid like shit then? You have to earn a certificate yet the pay is barely above minimum wage. It's not a job most people can do? Or maybe even if it was a job anyone could do they should have enough to fucking live!
 
Huncho_Houdini

Huncho_Houdini

Member
Dec 31, 2017
7,129
Tom Penny said:
Most peoples pay is in direct relation to the service They provide. If It's a job that most people can do you aren't getting paid well in general. That's not changing ever.
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This is true, which is why the minimum wage should be raised significantly.

18k a year amounts to only $8-9 per hour if its 40 hours per week.
 
TheGhost

TheGhost

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
28,137
Long Island
That's fucking insane and a recipe for people to start taking what they need for their family to survive because this country fucking sucks.
 

Deleted member 60295

User requested account closure
Banned
Sep 28, 2019
1,489
I think I'm making less than that every year, lol. But it's not big deal in my case. I'm living at home and helping my parents pay off their mortgage (we've always been lower-middle income), and my job is working at a non-profit thrift store that is legitimately doing a lot of good for this town. Much prefer working here in the short term to slaving away working in traditional retail or fast food. And I'm working on getting certified for IT work, so for the time being, a job as low stress as mine is ideal.

(Doesn't excuse how awful it is for most people my age, though. That's why I'm backing Bernie first, and Liz second - and I'll vote for whoever has the best chance of winning come March. Everyone else in the primary can fuck off.)
 
leder

leder

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,111
thesoapster said:
There was some piece that claimed 75k is "all you need," and that more than that doesn't actually make life easier or something. It's odd because 75k where I live is decent, but nothing crazy. In some middle of nowhere place, you could do quite well. San Francisco? Lolz
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If I'm thinking of the same study, it was about happiness, not material prosperity. But yeah either way it probably depends hugely on where you live.
 
NCR Ranger

NCR Ranger

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,899
So many people I know fall into that category. Maybe some can now see why a good chunk of the country sees making 100k a year as "rich."
 
Masoyama

Masoyama

Attempted to circumvent a ban with an alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,648
I was making almost twice that as my grad school stipend in a cheap ass city.
 
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