Cost of living has increased but for many workers, pay hasn't
Even with an improving job market, many American workers aren't seeing
improving paychecks, and new research suggests the families with the
lowest incomes are getting hit the worst.
The National Employment Law Project
says since the recession, many workers' pay has stayed the same while
cost-of-living expenses increased. This means people have less money for
necessary goods and services — essentially, their "real" wages dropped
compared to a year ago working the same job.
While the fluctuation was different depending on the job, the
researchers say low-income families are clearly experiencing the
greatest declines.
"Policymakers may want to pay particular attention to these differences
as they set priorities for remedial action or determine appropriate
policies and strategies to raise wages for certain kinds of jobs," NELP researchers write.
Jobs like the fast-food business, where movements across the nation continue to demand wages starting at $15 per hour.
"I have rent to pay, I have stuff to do. My co-workers, they have their
struggles too. They have kids, they need a place to sleep, they need a
place to sleep for their kids," fast-food worker Terrence Busby told KNXV.
Raising base wages is a divisive issue. Many corporations argue that
will raise the cost of doing business, leading to either job cuts or
passing the cost along to customers.
A few large businesses have reacted to worker demands, though. Business
like Wal-Mart, Target, TJ Maxx and Marshalls are just a few of the large
retail businesses to have announced raises to their minimum wages for
hundreds of thousands of workers.
The NELP study covered the hourly wages of 785 occupations between 2009 and 2014.
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Then there's the "real" unemployment rate . . . especially the unemployment rate for black young adults. It's not that phony 5% that gets reported. In a lot of places it's still over 30%. If you were rich before the crash you're probably richer now. If you were poor before the crash, chances are you're even poorer now.