Fun Frustration With Numbers
The Annie E. Casey, Ford and Rockefeller foundations say the U.S. does not have enough good jobs:
One in every five U.S. jobs pays less than a poverty-level wage for a family of four, according to a study by the nonpartisan Working Poor Families Project.
"About 28 million jobs in the United States provided less than a poverty-level wage, which works out to about $8.84 an hour, the study said. The median wage for a waiter was about $6.80 an hour; for a cashier, it was $7.41 an hour.
The report said federal and state lawmakers should put more money into adult education and job training programs, increase the minimum wage and expand subsidized child care for low-income parents. Doing so would create more skilled workers who will make more money and, in turn, increase the tax base, the study said."
What infuriates me about studies like this is not the results of the study but the ludicrous conclusions. These foundations found that four out of five jobs provide enough income to support a family of four at above poverty levels, and somehow that is not good enough. Where is it written that every job has to support a family of four?
There are millions of teen-agers and young, single adults who need jobs, too. Putting more money into adult education and job training programs will not decrease the number of waiters and cashiers, it will only move new people into those positions. From where will those new people come? The same place from where they are coming now: High school, of course.
Our economy needs lower paying jobs because those are the slots that provide an entry for our youth into the job market. That is why they are called "entry level" jobs.
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