Living Wage Hard to Find in Northwest
For all the talk of economic boom times, a new study of four Northwest states suggests that about one-half of the available jobs do not pay a living wage to single adults and that the news is even worse for single parents with two children.
The findings, based on 1996 employment data, show that Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana are not creating enough living wage jobs for working age adults. And the gap is especially alarming for single parents with two children: Throughout the states, between 72% and 81% of the openings do not pay enough for those families to meet their basic needs, including emergencies, without going on public assistance.
“The fundamental conclusion is that the economy, although it looks like it is booming, is really not providing enough living wage jobs for Northwest families,” said research analyst Paul Stern of the University of Washington’s Northwest Policy Center.
And based upon the consistency of data among the four states, Stern said, the research suggests that the findings do not apply only to the Northwest. “I don’t think it is a localized phenomenon. . . . I don’t think it is a local story,” he said.
The report, a joint project of the policy center and the four-state Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, represents the first phase of a three-year research study aimed at developing strategies for business, government, labor and communities. The study used 1996 data because it was the most recent available and, Stern noted, represented an economic period that may have been stronger than today.
Among the study’s major findings:
* In all four states, minimum wages represented about half the amount considered a living wage for single adults and only 30% of the living wage for single parents with two children. Living wages for a single adult ranged from $9.02 an hour or $18,760 a year in Montana to $10.25 an hour or $21,322 a year in Washington. For single adults with two children, the living wages ranged from $14.42 an hour or $29,995 a year in Idaho to $16.86 an hour or $35,079 in Washington.
* The gap between the number of working age households and jobs that pay a living wage for single adults ranged from about 58,000 in Idaho to about 275,000 in Washington. For single parents with two children, the shortfall was more dramatic: about 200,000 in Montana to more than 1 million in Washington.
* There are far more people looking for work than job openings that pay a living wage. For single adults, depending on the state, there were an average of four to six job seekers for each living wage job. For single adults with two children, there were an average of 10 to 17 job seekers.
Analyzing a database of more than 700 occupations, Stern said, researchers found that many of the job openings fell into occupations that did not pay a living wage. The jobs included cashiers, bank tellers, retail salesclerks, cleaning and building service workers, cooks, waiters and waitresses.
“That is not to say these occupations shouldn’t exist or that we should pay fast food workers $10 an hour,” Stern said. “But there are not enough of the higher-paying jobs to support individuals and families [even though] they form a huge portion of the economy.”
Although the study’s findings have been sobering, Stern said the reception to the report has been positive. “The purpose of the first phase of research is to bring people together . . . to talk about this issue,” he said. “And the reception has been wonderful.”
Added Stern: “Business owners realize that if people are not earning a living wage, they are not going to be buying products. And if they are not paying living wages, they are going to have higher staff turnover.”
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A Wage, but No Living
About one-half of jobs available in four Northwest states do not pay a livable wage, according to a study. Even fewer of the jobs pay enough to support a parent with two children.
Job openings that do not pay a living wage for a single adult with two children.
Job openings that do not pay a living wage for a single adult.
Note: Numbers are from each state’s wage and labor reports for 1996, the last year for which data was available.
