This will change under President Sanders.
5
The numbers are all wrong. Tracking the number of 'jobs added' is nice, but what about all the people out of work in this country? Not "unemployed" or "underemployed" but out of work indefinitely. Why isn't there a number every month for them? If Wall Street really knew how many people were out of work each month, there wouldn't be so much confusion (and downright wrong thinking) when it comes to assessing and predicting trends.
People who are working also need numbers because salaries have not kept up with the cost of living. How are people supposed to shop and contribute to the economy if they have no money to spend?
People who are working also need numbers because salaries have not kept up with the cost of living. How are people supposed to shop and contribute to the economy if they have no money to spend?
4
Low-income American workers are the ones most hurt by the illegals that are currently working the jobs with the lowest pay. If the illegals were forced out of the job market, the lowest income American workers would see the biggest job gains due to the immediate demand for laborers in those low-income fields that the illegals now occupy!
3
It's interesting the difference in the "tone" of the comments regarding this article and the "tone" of the comments regarding "Hungary Defends Handling of Migrants Amid Chaos at Train Station" in this same newspaper.
In this article Americans are out of work, Americans are no longer looking for work and there is a distinct decline in pay for the lowest-paid workers. Maybe each article has different readers but very few here want to bring in or import thousands or millions of Middle Eastern refugees. Where would they work or would the US taxpayers have to care for them forever?
In this article Americans are out of work, Americans are no longer looking for work and there is a distinct decline in pay for the lowest-paid workers. Maybe each article has different readers but very few here want to bring in or import thousands or millions of Middle Eastern refugees. Where would they work or would the US taxpayers have to care for them forever?
2
The unemployment rate for High School Diploma or less is between 6% and 9%. Adding in underemployment and those not actively seeking jobs, there remains a lot of slack at the bottom of the labor market and thus wages won't rise.
When you let in 30-50 million unskilled workers to compete with your unskilled workforce the laws of supply and demand say their pay will decrease, it has happened. When will Democrats realize they need to deport the illegals if they want to serve the poor americans?
2
It's not so much the pay check, it's how much a pay check is worth when you buy things like food, prices on food are outrageous, triple what they were 8/9 years ago. Gas and food prices have been going up while the paycheck stays the same.
The Fed's goal is to boost asset prices. Creating a McJob Economy was an added bonus.
1
A lot of people are in the same boat. In the health care arena, providers haven't seen any increases in years.
This article is missing one important set of facts: What has happened to the compensation package for the people who run the companies the people interviewed work for?
I don't have the data but I do have the perception that the executives of these companies have seen significant raises in their compensation packages. I also think that the prices charged to their customers have gone up.
Yet, the compensation for the people who deliver the services and make the products sold is frozen with the admonition that their failure to get more education/training/certification is their own fault and the justification for keeping their pay at the same level.
I don't have the data but I do have the perception that the executives of these companies have seen significant raises in their compensation packages. I also think that the prices charged to their customers have gone up.
Yet, the compensation for the people who deliver the services and make the products sold is frozen with the admonition that their failure to get more education/training/certification is their own fault and the justification for keeping their pay at the same level.
13
Not an expert, but small businesses do say that they will cut employee benefits if their cost of doing business is pushed up by mandates. Or they will fail in business. This just seems like an unintended consequence of an otherwise good idea (raise minimum wage, pay for more employee health care.) Just sayin'
We should have a minimum wage of $20/hour in this country.
And we should forbid all US companies from manufacturing their goods overseas.
And finally, we should have tariffs which bring foreign goods' prices in line with domestic-made goods (and only allow goods to be sold here that have been made in countries where an equivalently good wage has been paid to the workers who made them).
Anyone who works should be paid a decent wage to do so.
Certainly more than enough money to merely "survive".
And by the way, new companies would emerge and thrive based purely upon innovation/novelty--by offering something no other company does.
And not just by being able to undercut the prices of some other company.
And we should forbid all US companies from manufacturing their goods overseas.
And finally, we should have tariffs which bring foreign goods' prices in line with domestic-made goods (and only allow goods to be sold here that have been made in countries where an equivalently good wage has been paid to the workers who made them).
Anyone who works should be paid a decent wage to do so.
Certainly more than enough money to merely "survive".
And by the way, new companies would emerge and thrive based purely upon innovation/novelty--by offering something no other company does.
And not just by being able to undercut the prices of some other company.
7
Interesting that the administration takes credit for the lower unemployment rate while distancing itself (ignoring, actually) from the plight of increasing numbers of low-income workers. Raising the minimum wage will only make more of them unemployed.
2
This is not an Obama issue or even a political one. It's simple economics. We had a very deep, damaging recession. Notice how the lady said she got raises every year until 2007? Companies downsized and got used to having fewer employees. There is still inadequate demand in our economy. It will take more spending and it's not a dirty word. See, we spend money on roads and bridges and those workers then have money to hire a home aid worker for their mothers. Home aid company has to hire more people. Get it?
7
Replacing full time employees for part timers is not exclusively in low wage jobs. I am a college teacher with an MBA who after a successful year and interview process was told, "We are not filling the position". No, instead they hired me and two others to work part time with no benefits and lots of unpaid work time. So I am driving in excess of 350 miles a week between two schools and still don't make enough to pay the bills. In addition, I will likely be charged a penalty on my taxes next year for not having insurance. BTW, I am 61 years old.
11
Thanks to the lowering of the wages of these people more profit is passed onto the job creators. They are the real American workers and the blessings of their actions benefit us all through innovation, job creation and increased efficiency.
This would be the great global wage equalization that's taking hold and since labor will always be more available than jobs you can expect the world to get poorer and the capitalists to hold even more of the money at least until someone changes the system to one of equitable distribution rather than a system that's geared to underpay every worker ever born.
9
This is not the fault of American workers. The problem with our economy is that there are a huge number of jobs that are kept at the low end of the pay scale by employers. They did this by killing unions and using illegal immigrants, and outsourcing. There are many more of these low pay jobs than there are young workers just starting out, and there are no where near enough high paying jobs available for all workers as they accumulate experience and get older. The inevitable result is that too many older workers keep getting forced back into the low wage jobs, and eventually cannot escape. This is not the fault of those workers, and it is not due to lack of skill. Our suite of available jobs does not match our demographics. This was much less of a problem 4 decades ago when I got out of high school, and there were plentiful jobs in manufacturing. At that time, virtually everything I used was made by my fellow citizens, from socks and shoes, to cars, telephones, TVs, furniture, etc.
One wonders how long American workers will continue to feel a sense of loyalty to a country that has shown no loyalty to their interests whatsoever. If you wonder why Donald Trump's angry retoric resonates, and why Bernie Sanders ideas inspire, this lack of respect, and a living wage, for the average working man or woman is why. On our current path, it will only get worse.
One wonders how long American workers will continue to feel a sense of loyalty to a country that has shown no loyalty to their interests whatsoever. If you wonder why Donald Trump's angry retoric resonates, and why Bernie Sanders ideas inspire, this lack of respect, and a living wage, for the average working man or woman is why. On our current path, it will only get worse.
12
People who believe a $15 min wage would put an end to "taxpayer subsidies of businesses" via food stamps and the like might want to think again.
Other than a tiny bit of a food stamps for the truly destitute, all of these "taxpayer subsidies of low-wage" jobs go to people who have chosen to have children despite their inability to command an adequate salary. Childfree low-wage workers get pretty much nothing.
At $30,000 a year (assuming she could get full-time work at $15/hour) a single parent with a couple of kids would still be eligible for many thousands of dollars a year in taxpayer funded subsidies including WIC, SNAP, maybe TANF, Section 8, Medicaid, about $5,000 handout via the Earned Income Tax "Credit," a $1,000/kid child tax "credit," dependent care credit, the USDA school nutrition program, early-childhood education subsidies and more. In my neck of the woods, free bus passes and discounted electric, gas and water bills too. All paid for by productive net taxpayers.
The root of the problem is not wages, it's people having kids they can't afford instead of spending their teens, 20s and 30s improving themselves, getting skills training or education and otherwise boosting their value to prospective employers. If we continue to reward willy-nilly reproduction by the people least prepared to be good parents, we're going to continue to grow an underclass and all the artificial wage controls in the world won't really ameliorate any of the associated problems.
Other than a tiny bit of a food stamps for the truly destitute, all of these "taxpayer subsidies of low-wage" jobs go to people who have chosen to have children despite their inability to command an adequate salary. Childfree low-wage workers get pretty much nothing.
At $30,000 a year (assuming she could get full-time work at $15/hour) a single parent with a couple of kids would still be eligible for many thousands of dollars a year in taxpayer funded subsidies including WIC, SNAP, maybe TANF, Section 8, Medicaid, about $5,000 handout via the Earned Income Tax "Credit," a $1,000/kid child tax "credit," dependent care credit, the USDA school nutrition program, early-childhood education subsidies and more. In my neck of the woods, free bus passes and discounted electric, gas and water bills too. All paid for by productive net taxpayers.
The root of the problem is not wages, it's people having kids they can't afford instead of spending their teens, 20s and 30s improving themselves, getting skills training or education and otherwise boosting their value to prospective employers. If we continue to reward willy-nilly reproduction by the people least prepared to be good parents, we're going to continue to grow an underclass and all the artificial wage controls in the world won't really ameliorate any of the associated problems.
4
With at best a lackluster recovery bogged down by excessive regulations and Obamacare, wages of the lower and middle class are at risk. Add to that the depressing effect of tens of millions of illegal aliens and a tsunami more invited in by the current administration and who are willing to work for minimum wage and less, the fact wages haven't fallen even more is what is a surprise to me.
It has nothing to do with the pay of top executives... it's all about supply and demand. The supply of low wage workers exceeds the demand and it will be always thus unless illegal immigration is stopped and the economy is allowed to grow naturally.
It has nothing to do with the pay of top executives... it's all about supply and demand. The supply of low wage workers exceeds the demand and it will be always thus unless illegal immigration is stopped and the economy is allowed to grow naturally.
2
Socrates is correct.
Free market capitalism has proved unable to pay a livable wage, supply adequate health & education & acceptable income distribution. The US has slowed in its ability to create products that can compete globally. We have put ourselves into a position of being shopkeepers for the World's production, not our own. We need some new thinking & we must accept that we need to shift investment to exportable products.
There are many opportunities beyond being an arms supplier for endless wars. There are opportunities for industries and services built around the necessity for industrial products for transportation, electric power generation & production of nutritious food without fossil fuels. E.g. we could lead in Maglev launch of solar satellites to orbit, redirect shipbuilding to hospital ships with helicopters & desalinization water tankers, to offer healthcare and water to those in need here & the World after major disasters. Clearly,we could produce synthetic gasoline, jet and diesel fuel from CO2 in air and H2 in water with cheap electricity.
We need to upgrade the surface transportation in the US with the 300 mph superconducting Maglev transport for freight, trucks, autos, and passengers. The Government only needs to test the system to attract the investment to build out an Interstate system for all of Earths continents. This will save every person $1,000 annually in reduced cost of travel & cost of goods and millions of fatalities & injuries.
Free market capitalism has proved unable to pay a livable wage, supply adequate health & education & acceptable income distribution. The US has slowed in its ability to create products that can compete globally. We have put ourselves into a position of being shopkeepers for the World's production, not our own. We need some new thinking & we must accept that we need to shift investment to exportable products.
There are many opportunities beyond being an arms supplier for endless wars. There are opportunities for industries and services built around the necessity for industrial products for transportation, electric power generation & production of nutritious food without fossil fuels. E.g. we could lead in Maglev launch of solar satellites to orbit, redirect shipbuilding to hospital ships with helicopters & desalinization water tankers, to offer healthcare and water to those in need here & the World after major disasters. Clearly,we could produce synthetic gasoline, jet and diesel fuel from CO2 in air and H2 in water with cheap electricity.
We need to upgrade the surface transportation in the US with the 300 mph superconducting Maglev transport for freight, trucks, autos, and passengers. The Government only needs to test the system to attract the investment to build out an Interstate system for all of Earths continents. This will save every person $1,000 annually in reduced cost of travel & cost of goods and millions of fatalities & injuries.
5
In America, perhaps throughout the other Western nations, there has emerged a new phenomenon - the rapid explosion of a class of people who for various reasons, do not fit in, are not currently able to function in modernity. There are millions of these people. Their old way of life has disappeared. They find themselves untethered, adrift, unable to provide for themselves, their families. The era of tradditional jobs/work is over, done, finished, a remnant of earlier times. What can be done for them? Rather than have them look for work when there is no work, and let them starve, enlightened countries should create/provide large agrarian based communities for them to work the land, along with other related farm activities commonplace in an earlier era. What can be done when there is no solution? The challenge is immense..
1
The "Economy"--a social construction created by polities--their property, inheritance, tax and labor law--re-creating corporations as legal "persons" with limited liability for their owners--treats low wage, relatively uneducated workers as drones--virtual slaves. Especially in the US.
An old Herblock cartoon about Republican plutocracy quipped to a drone--"If you're so smart, why don't you inherit a deparment store."
Romney infamously gaffed that "legal persons" were "people too"--showing both his ignorance of "legal persons" and human beings, in keeping with the capitalist/plutocrat myth that inherited wealth is a natural--not a political--right. That corporate persons are as nature as human ones--the "Economy" being a creation above the law like the cosmos.
In the plutocrat ideology, keeping the drone class uneducated, unhealthy and subservient is the way it should be. The natural order. Thus Romney's remarks to his own class--videoed--about the drone class.
The current crop of GOP hopefuls will try to avoid getting caught about what they really think--spinning their views in terms of an idiotic elixir conception of "freedom"--meaning freedom from government--as Reagan put it--a monkey on your back.
He meant the backs of the monied class--"The people" for whom government of The common people should function--by allowing the US polity to create a drone class.
An old Herblock cartoon about Republican plutocracy quipped to a drone--"If you're so smart, why don't you inherit a deparment store."
Romney infamously gaffed that "legal persons" were "people too"--showing both his ignorance of "legal persons" and human beings, in keeping with the capitalist/plutocrat myth that inherited wealth is a natural--not a political--right. That corporate persons are as nature as human ones--the "Economy" being a creation above the law like the cosmos.
In the plutocrat ideology, keeping the drone class uneducated, unhealthy and subservient is the way it should be. The natural order. Thus Romney's remarks to his own class--videoed--about the drone class.
The current crop of GOP hopefuls will try to avoid getting caught about what they really think--spinning their views in terms of an idiotic elixir conception of "freedom"--meaning freedom from government--as Reagan put it--a monkey on your back.
He meant the backs of the monied class--"The people" for whom government of The common people should function--by allowing the US polity to create a drone class.
10
Funny that this article quotes the federal mafia's unemployment andf the phony economic growth numbers as if they were real. They aren't, they are a lie. Real unemployment is still up around 10% and for blacks it is close to 14%. In two months the Labor Department will issue a readjustment of the 3.3% growth and make it significantly less because lying is the only thing our government does well.
Tell me again why blacks overwhelmingly voted for obama?
Tell me again why blacks overwhelmingly voted for obama?
9
"Truth" is spot-on! This admin in particular constantly cooks the books. If economic growth WAS 3.3%, TV economists would be slobbering themselves onscreen. I don't even see positive vibes most of the time. (I think you KNOW why they voted for Obama-Fraud.)
Blacks thought Obama offered hope but republicans made sure he could not deliver hope. Even the supreme court is stacked toward the haves.
1
Stop importing poverty, America has enough.
20
Even in the white collar world employees have gone years without raises, especially in areas where jobs have been scarce, like media. What were once full-time jobs are split into two part time jobs to eliminate benefits. It's a nasty world out there in private enterprise.
For far too many Americans high standards, harder work and longer hours no longer make any difference. Stagnant and falling wages are not limited to low-paying jobs.
For far too many Americans high standards, harder work and longer hours no longer make any difference. Stagnant and falling wages are not limited to low-paying jobs.
25
In June, the U.S. added 250,000 new jobs, yet 400,000 people gave up looking for work. The entire population of Cleveland is ~400,000. #ObamasEconomy
Note: Giving up looking for work means you are no longer tracked as unemployed, but now out of the labor force.
Note: Giving up looking for work means you are no longer tracked as unemployed, but now out of the labor force.
15
Here is a chart of what you are talking about. http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000
Since the beginning of 2009, the labor force participation rate has dropped by over 3%. That represents 5 MILLION people who have dropped out of the labor force, and are no longer considered 'unemployed'.
Another way to look at is that the US population grows at 0.9% annually. At that rate, the economy would have to grow between 200k-250k per month, just to keep up with population growth. Yet, for the last 6 years we have seen month after month where the job growth was less than that, and the 'unemployment rate' went down. There is no other reason for that, except for people dropping out of the labor force.
Since the beginning of 2009, the labor force participation rate has dropped by over 3%. That represents 5 MILLION people who have dropped out of the labor force, and are no longer considered 'unemployed'.
Another way to look at is that the US population grows at 0.9% annually. At that rate, the economy would have to grow between 200k-250k per month, just to keep up with population growth. Yet, for the last 6 years we have seen month after month where the job growth was less than that, and the 'unemployment rate' went down. There is no other reason for that, except for people dropping out of the labor force.
The article fails to ask the employer how much their rates have changed since 2009. I would suspect that the rates have NOT been stagnant but probably have increase 10% to 30% in line with other healthcare costs. So if the rates paid by customers has gone up, yet the employees providing the services have not seen any wage increase, then one must assume that the owner/employer has seen the gains.
It's the same throughout the US. Prices have gone up but not wages.
It's the same throughout the US. Prices have gone up but not wages.
8
You are absolutely correct ! Unemployment for minorities in our large cities runs upward of 40% in some cases (Baltimore, Chicago, etc.)....Neither of our two political parties wants to frame the immigration debate in this context...All these unemployed kids in our big cities could be making beds in hotels, doing the janitorial work in office buildings, working in lawn services cutting grass, etc...These kids just need a job, somewhere to start,.....
12
John R. - "All these unemployed kids in our big cities could be making beds in hotels, doing the janitorial work in office buildings, working in lawn services cutting grass, etc.."
But, but those are the jobs that the Democrats are telling us, Americans no longer want to do, so we need illegal aliens. As for the Americans without jobs, just give them welfare and make sure they vote.
But, but those are the jobs that the Democrats are telling us, Americans no longer want to do, so we need illegal aliens. As for the Americans without jobs, just give them welfare and make sure they vote.
1
They can thank Obama and his open borders/welfare policy. It allows
companies to underpay and bag the taxpayers will increased welfare
costs.
companies to underpay and bag the taxpayers will increased welfare
costs.
7
Democrat "trickle up poverty" works every time.
4
Yes, we keep getting poorer -- and the 1% keep getting richer.
I wonder if the millions of unskilled workers flooding across our southern border, could possibly have anything to do with this?
Maybe they are competing for these unskilled jobs.
Nah...couldn't be supply and demand, that's just some capitalist lie.
Maybe they are competing for these unskilled jobs.
Nah...couldn't be supply and demand, that's just some capitalist lie.
14
Mandate any employee who has been employed for more than 6 months be a full time classification at $15/hour. No more of the endless part time work at poverty wages. We must put a halt to corporate and business welfare.
14
Companies can't afford to give raises to the rank and file but they can afford giving large bonuses to the CEO. All gains in the economy have gone to the top.
33
That is due to market forces. There aren't that many good CEO candidates out there but there are plenty of unskilled workers.
The only answer is to acquire marketable skills and go get a better job.
If you cannot do that then you are being paid exactly what you are worth.
The only answer is to acquire marketable skills and go get a better job.
If you cannot do that then you are being paid exactly what you are worth.
There is no economic recovery. Quantitative easing has sent trillions into the pockets of less than 1% of the population by inflating stock prices. But this is how a fascist oligarchy works. Banks and corporations own the government, which continues to pillage and plunder. Obamacare and Medicare are examples--we pay 4 times what Germans pay for our substandard healthcare. Our prisons are the largest in the world thanks to the very profitable War on Drugs. Our militaristic foreign policy is used to enrich industry and is destroying the Middle East, creating the huge flood of refugees into Europe. Time to recognize that representative democracy is a flawed and broken system. We need direct democracy. We need peace, for with peace will come prosperity.
32
2009? Wasn't that the beginning of Hope and Change?
14
Hope and change was killed by Senator O'Connell as he promised to do. So sad.
Two words: illegal immigration. You flood the market with cheap and low skilled labor and employers have no incentive to raise pay. I am in no way suggesting that this is the only cause, or even the most important cause, but it is a factor. It is very disingenuous to not mention it as being such.
45
It is not just low skilled workers who are being left behind, I was laid off and all the jobs that I have applied for are paying 50% to 70% of what I was making. I am college educated and have 20 + years experience. I am sure there are no undocumented workers going for the type of jobs I am applying for so why are salaries so low? When jobs paying $45,000 start to look good something is very wrong .
6
Nope. Immigration has been falling drastically, and for years.
1
America needs a free market in labor.
Free markets solve every problem.
Employers need to employ the best people for the job, when they need them not when government dictates.
Employers need to be able to hire anyone of any race, creed or color whenever they want, unrestricted by government.
Free markets solve every problem.
Employers need to employ the best people for the job, when they need them not when government dictates.
Employers need to be able to hire anyone of any race, creed or color whenever they want, unrestricted by government.
And business is to blame? What about Taxation of income?
5
Paying workers more would mean less for shareholders. If Walmart were to give every employee a 15% pay raise their stock would plummet.
Meanwhile there are few politicians who are fighting for the "little guy" because everyone is funded by corporations or millionaires. Only the rich or those who benefit the rich are able to run for office and set policy. Welcome to American plutocracy.
Meanwhile there are few politicians who are fighting for the "little guy" because everyone is funded by corporations or millionaires. Only the rich or those who benefit the rich are able to run for office and set policy. Welcome to American plutocracy.
14
Yeah, it's really a shame that all those people who worked hard to put retirement money in IRAs, 401ks, pensions, etc., are demanding that the value of their investments not be pillaged to provide a 100% pay increase for people who would rather spit on you than do their jobs.
9
You realize Walmart already raised minimum pay right?? I just read an article last week about how the transition is going. It's going a little worse than the Seattlite who raised his employees to a minimum $70,000. You should read articles on both. Quite interesting lessons on micro-economics in both stories.
It's corporate fascism and the middle-class was suckered years ago under Reagan to give up their guaranteed pensions for life by Wall Street to accept the roller-coaster ride of the stock-market to fatten brokers' paychecks. Now the middle-class will lose whatever wealth they have accumulated in 401-k's and IRA's as there are less and less suckers to sell their stocks to as the music stops as interest rates rise.
Obama's America...
These low-income workers have nothing to worry about. Obama will find a program to ensure their place at the bottom.
His programs will make certain they neither starve nor succeed.
These low-income workers have nothing to worry about. Obama will find a program to ensure their place at the bottom.
His programs will make certain they neither starve nor succeed.
10
DJ : That's exactly how the Democrats have treated African-Americans since the great Society legislation 50 years ago, making sure they remain dependent on the government and the Democrats for their subsistence. And constantly being told they must vote to keep the Dems in power for the freebies to keep on coming. Little efforts by the Dems to truly help the black community to pull itself up. Look at inner city schools - always controlled by Dems, who oppose charter schools that give black students much better educational opportunities and are favored overwhelmingly by African-American parents. Who funds and advocates charter/private schools? Republicans! The Dems are beholden to the public school teachers' unions.
1
This is the direct result of Lack of trade unions. I have spoken.
4
...And yet the very trade unions you are praising are the ones demanding exemption from the minimum wage laws.
Are you talking about the unions of 100 years ago? Then maybe they could help.
Are you talking about the political fat cats that run the unions today? No way, they make too much by soaking the worker and employing the illegal.
Are you talking about the unions of 100 years ago? Then maybe they could help.
Are you talking about the political fat cats that run the unions today? No way, they make too much by soaking the worker and employing the illegal.
5
You need skills that are not easily obtained to have an effective trade union. A Union of low skilled people is nothing more than a mob that threatens violence.
8
Trade unions make sense in some occupations. I don't think unionizing low/unskilled labor would have the same impact as not being able to find low/unskilled labor. It still comes back to supply and demand. The nation is awash in low/unskilled labor. Corporate lobbying and a duplicitous government will soon have us awash in skilled labor as well with the same results (we are already well on the way).
3
A lot of the comments on this article seem to know answers that the writers should acknowledge and write about. I know that it is hard to face the criticism that the politically correct crowd aim the at those who say and write the truth. At the very least discuss what the commentators have to say. Truth and discussion of politically incorrect topics could lead to answers.
8
I think that can apply to a lot of the nations issues up to and including racial relations. PC impedes us from having an open and honest conversation about many issues. Which in the end may be the point of PC; to control the conversation as opposed to facilitating it.
6
Hello... there are laws of supply and demand, which in their simplest form show that while the supply of available workers is high, wages will remain low. So what's the solution? Stem the supply of workers. You can't keep allowing millions of additional people into the country to seek work, and expect the wages on the low end to come up. Having a job becomes a competitive situation where you want $9 per hour, but someone else who may have better skills will work for $8.50. If Americans wants conditions to improve in America they need to look to take care of their own first before taking care of the rest of the world. Yes, this is a selfish statement, but you can't take care of everyone and the world benefits from a prosperous America!
35
Thanks Shawn - I was about to make a very similar comment regarding the supply and demand of low-income, low-education workers. Immigration policies should seek to improve the economic conditions for American citizens, not degrade them. This outcome has been predictable, but largely ignored by many of the very Americans that it is now affecting. Even worse, the huge demand and competition for safety net services has become an anchor to key portions of state and municipal economies. Sadly, this will not end well and there is no way to change course under current federal immigration policies.
7
Home health care is one of the most abusive industries in this country. Despite all the rhetoric about fast food establishments, HHC is way ahead in terms of terrible jobs to have.
HHC companies are little more than UBER for poor employees. You call up and say you need someone to watch your elderly mother. They charge you $25 or more an hour, and send someone who they pay $9 an hour. What a scam.
HHC companies are little more than UBER for poor employees. You call up and say you need someone to watch your elderly mother. They charge you $25 or more an hour, and send someone who they pay $9 an hour. What a scam.
18
And why is that a scam? Part of that mark-up goes to paying employer gov't taxes and employee benefits, not to mention the employees that need to hired to do the accounting. Ever run a business or learn accounting?
3
Apparently exploiting labor is a big part of running a business.
what benefits?
Is anyone really surprised having unfettered immigration of low skilled people depresses wages for low skilled Americans ...
21
And this is also the reason for the reduction in economic growth in china. I can't spend money I don't have. And all though I don't like this, most things that people like myself do buy (when we can) are made in chin
2
I believe that a part of the problem is the governments false computation of inflation. They claim 2%, but it's really much higher IF one includes necessities like food and energy. And I find it astounding that this administration, and the last, pile on government fees to our phone, gas, electric, water, and countless other items of necessity. Our taxes and fees are growing due to the government's thirst to spend money, more every year.
How about the government budget can only grow by what they publish as the inflation rate - 2%? And how about eliminating all the taxes and fees that the poor and middle class keep absorbing as part of their monthly payments.
But please, 2 studies down by 'left leaning' agencies whose only job is to find labor inequality?! Hard to believe anything they say. We need honest assessment and root cause analysis, not politics. And surely no more studies.
Manufacturing jobs are disintegrating. Our public school system is a joke; seems it's only function today is to keep the Public Service Union and school boards in control of themselves. Not working too well. And the third world countries are all too happy to work their butts off for jobs that have raised millions out of poverty.
The earth is finite, so are the jobs.
How about the government budget can only grow by what they publish as the inflation rate - 2%? And how about eliminating all the taxes and fees that the poor and middle class keep absorbing as part of their monthly payments.
But please, 2 studies down by 'left leaning' agencies whose only job is to find labor inequality?! Hard to believe anything they say. We need honest assessment and root cause analysis, not politics. And surely no more studies.
Manufacturing jobs are disintegrating. Our public school system is a joke; seems it's only function today is to keep the Public Service Union and school boards in control of themselves. Not working too well. And the third world countries are all too happy to work their butts off for jobs that have raised millions out of poverty.
The earth is finite, so are the jobs.
10
I so disagree. There is not a finite number of jobs.
#1 The taxes should be imposed on all people, otherwise people will not stop the gun carrying officials constantly taking money.
#2 If taxes on a person I pay $10 an hour is $6, I pay a total of $16 for the job. If the taxes were $3, I could pay $13 and therefore there is a lower threshold to hiring people. That means my prices will be lower, more demand, and more employees working.
#1 The taxes should be imposed on all people, otherwise people will not stop the gun carrying officials constantly taking money.
#2 If taxes on a person I pay $10 an hour is $6, I pay a total of $16 for the job. If the taxes were $3, I could pay $13 and therefore there is a lower threshold to hiring people. That means my prices will be lower, more demand, and more employees working.
4
@Mary: Your rant is misguided for several reasons. For example, you claim that the government has a "false computation of inflation. They claim 2%, but it's really much higher IF one includes necessities like food and energy." You're probably thinking of the core CPI or CPCE, which exclude volatile costs like food and energy, but in fact the government has several other measures of inflation that include those categories. For example, the Fed uses the PCEPI, which includes both food and energy.
Too many low skilled, educated workers for this service based economy.
12
And yet we import more every year.
Thanks for the hope and change Obama. In nearly eight years, this is the fruit of your socialist compassion and centralized government? Methinks the pipples were duped. But we knew that before you were even elected as you stood next to the fake Greek pillars promising to move the waters and mountains.
11
Kinda hard to change things when you are opposed so vehemently by those from the republican side. It will take compromise j bohner.
2
Flip, it isn't simply the Republicans' fault - try looking at both Parties. Both Parties continue to fall headlong into Progressive, Socialist tar pits. From the top down, all workers are viewed as an ATM for the government, and it matters very little to the vast majority of politicians what their constituency is composed of as long as they can vote. Providing 'free stuff' is enough to keep the torches and pitchforks away from the gates, and taking just enough from the middle-tier to pay for much of it keeps that ATM stocked.
Obama and Progressive-Socialist policies are driving the negative changes at a higher frequency now. The government, banking, and government-connected businesses are rife with those who care very little for the middle and lower class in a Capitalist society only because they aim to change it - they are positioning themselves for life after the wheels come off of the wagon.
Obama and Progressive-Socialist policies are driving the negative changes at a higher frequency now. The government, banking, and government-connected businesses are rife with those who care very little for the middle and lower class in a Capitalist society only because they aim to change it - they are positioning themselves for life after the wheels come off of the wagon.
1
Not at all difficult if you propose productive policies. Clinton worked with Republicans on Welfare reform. LBJ/Dirksen corralled a higher % of Republicans to vote for 1964 Civil Rights Act than % votes from Democrats. Likewise in House, Republican rep. (praised by Jackie Kennedy--though his name now slips my mind, regrettably) steered through the bill more so than any other--or at least as much as.
There are three factors causing the decline in low skilled job wages. 1. Illegal intruders 2. Uncontrolled employment of illegal workers 3. Ever-increasing welfare programs that incentivize minimizing or eliminating job income. This is working exactly as policymakers intended, to benefit government elites (Dems) and corporate elites (Reps) at the expense of normal Americans. The immigrants are but pawns in the game.
9
There are also the expanding and increasingly pervasive uses of robotics and other advanced technologies that can increasingly perform many, if not most of the tasks in jobs for which low skilled workers have been the primary workers. It is entirely likely that the demands for higher wages, e.g., $15/minimum wage, will entice (or force) companies to adopt these advanced technologies and to fire their low wage workers--saving them in various ways (e.g., no health insurance/sick leave/vacation, etc.), and in many cases increasing these firms' productivity and other, related efficiencies.
It's very unfortunate that those who continue to champion high levels of legal and illegal immigration for low skilled workers fail or refuse to see that the US economy no longer needs the millions of these types of workers that it did in the past, when a "strong back and a willing attitude" were all that were needed to find employment opportunities. Now these low skilled (legal and illegal) immigrants are not only competing with American workers (and causing wages to stagnate), but it's entirely plausible that in coming decades, they, too, will be laid-off as businesses adopt these advanced technologies. Then we will have even more unemployed, and likely unemployable individuals seeking government benefits.
It's very unfortunate that those who continue to champion high levels of legal and illegal immigration for low skilled workers fail or refuse to see that the US economy no longer needs the millions of these types of workers that it did in the past, when a "strong back and a willing attitude" were all that were needed to find employment opportunities. Now these low skilled (legal and illegal) immigrants are not only competing with American workers (and causing wages to stagnate), but it's entirely plausible that in coming decades, they, too, will be laid-off as businesses adopt these advanced technologies. Then we will have even more unemployed, and likely unemployable individuals seeking government benefits.
1
Here's your Hope... And here's some spare Change to live off of.
10
Despite an undergrad STEM degree, an MBA, and an MS degree from well-respected universities and 25 years of professional corporate experience, the "Great Recession," a couple of layoffs and missed opportunities, an oversupply of labor, and crushing competition have held my annual salary to exactly what it was in 1999.
9
You are lucky, I haven't worked in three years. And my wages in 2013 when I last worked was 22% less than 1999.
7
Supply and demand.
And yet our politicians of both parties will allow in another few million immigrants, legal and otherwise, every year to drive wages down even further, at the behest of their corporate donors.
And yet our politicians of both parties will allow in another few million immigrants, legal and otherwise, every year to drive wages down even further, at the behest of their corporate donors.
11
Raise minimum wage to $1,000 an hour. Everyone is rich!!!!!
4
And maybe the Fed/Treasury could print enough money to make everyone rich?
A lot of commenters and readers who see falling wages as an illegal immigration problem must have missed Eduardo Porter's NYT article 2 days ago, called "Donald Trump's Shaky Grasp On Immigration".
He provides a chart showing that the total number of Mexican illegal immigrants in the US dropped from a high of 7 million in 2007 to 5.8 million, while the total from Central America and ROW remain flat. Here's the link.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/business/economy/trumps-shaky-stanc...
Mr Porter's article also highlights the demographic and economic changes going on in Mexico that will accelerate this trend and how billions spent on Homeland Security is keeping illegal immigrants here rather than risking the border crossing seasonally because the risk of capture has dramatically increased.
In the near future, we will be facing labor shortages, especially in Southern States, where dependence on illegal labor has been highest. If you want to see the future, ask someone in the construction business today.
He provides a chart showing that the total number of Mexican illegal immigrants in the US dropped from a high of 7 million in 2007 to 5.8 million, while the total from Central America and ROW remain flat. Here's the link.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/business/economy/trumps-shaky-stanc...
Mr Porter's article also highlights the demographic and economic changes going on in Mexico that will accelerate this trend and how billions spent on Homeland Security is keeping illegal immigrants here rather than risking the border crossing seasonally because the risk of capture has dramatically increased.
In the near future, we will be facing labor shortages, especially in Southern States, where dependence on illegal labor has been highest. If you want to see the future, ask someone in the construction business today.
6
The construction industry is addicted to cheap illegal labor. They need to build their own qualified labor force with legal citizens. There is no shortage of low skilled, educated workers. I have several small businesses , painting, lawn care, maid service, gas stations and I have a waiting list of people that are looking for work. The last few years I have seen more college educated, older workers, calling me for a job, any job. They start at 9 dollars per hour and seldom do I have to pay more since when they quit I can always find ten more people to take that job.
6
This is for Charlie Jones. And?
Those who say the economy has rebounded and TPP will be good for the American worker are lying through their teeth.
14
The world was going to end if we didn't bail out millionaires and billionaires. They told us that so it must be true. Isn't that right Poor Working Class Sheeple?
6
Sheeple are those that follow the Progressive Democrats that have them working in poverty simply for votes. Obama has been in office almost 7 years, things are worse now than prior to him taking office, get a clue.
7
To jbar from Spokane. I thought the economy was jettisoning tons of jobs prior to taking P. Obama? Maybe we would be in better shape if we hadn't spent 10 years in Iraq?
3
You're right. Before 1/20/09, the economy was soaring, jobs were plentiful, housing was was a'building, cars were flying off the lots, and wages were way ahead of inflation. Then That Guy took office.
The Stock Market just tripled during a Great Depression on workers. The Fed should loan every American $100K to buy stocks. The Fed will print another 4 trillion to create another Fake Wall Street Recovery and we'll all be rich!
8
Obamacare is a huge cut in hours and unlimited illegal immigration isn't helping. Add in the Teachers Unions blocking effective reform in schools for decades and the decline of an educated workforce. Where did Shop and Auto class go, mechanics and plumbers and welders make more money than most 4 year degree graduate.
11
There is virtually no evidence that Obamacare has had an adverse effect on the labor market overall and any ill effects it has had are more than offset by positives such as giving people with health conditions who want to leave their job for self-employment or to reduce their work hours options they never had prior to the ACA. Teachers unions are not the primary obstacle to school reform; that would be Republican governors and conservative pundits who mindlessly oppose the Common Core State Standards. As for vocational training, couldn't agree more. We should all follow the example of liberal states such as Massachusetts who still have them.
Shop and auto class went when the tax-cutters took over, to say nothing of the push to "give" every student a computer.
Cleveland has had Democratic mayors for the last 25 years. 16 of 17 City Council members are Democrats, the 17th from the Green Party. Look at the objective results of jobs, the local economy, wages, education, poverty, etc.
11
Kansas as a state had had GOP rule for years. Look at the objective results of jobs, the local economy, wages, education, poverty, etc.
You are a traitor to the USA to want millions more immigrants to enter our country when 94 million working age Americans don't even work 1 hr per work!
12
That is because anyone can do low income work, with the displacement of traditionally Blue Collar workers downward onto the bottom rung of the ladder. The low wage job market is saturated with a dearth of supply, driving wages even lower.
We need to admit that globalization was not a good choice for America, especially when you global middle class worker is willing to accept $10 a day in payment.
We need to admit that globalization was not a good choice for America, especially when you global middle class worker is willing to accept $10 a day in payment.
12
I believe you mean the low wage market has a surfeit of supply; there is a dearth of jobs for the middle class.
1
Raise minimum wage to $12/hr. Then the $12/hr workers will make $15. The $15/hr workers will make $20/hr and the $20/hr will make $30/hr. Everything is a pie-in-the-sky gravy train of sunshine and lollypops when you can madate what wages to pay.
5
The Fed says inflation isn't high enough. They'll keep creating more artificial inflation and hope working class wages increase while 94 million Americans without jobs sit at home watching Springer.
5
Inflation is about 18%; the Fed and DC changed their calculations in the early 90s so that they could lie about inflation.
2
Trillions in Fed Easy Money just made the rich even richer, the working classes poorer and the lazy poor more comfortable. Exactly as planned and predicted.
5
The Fed should keep artificially boosting asset values with trillions in Easy Money for Wall Street. That will help poor workers with no assets.
5
Blaming the failure to raise wages on "liberal policy" as Jeff Kelley contends is all too popular. It's corporate policy, not liberal government policy. When will people know the difference? Who pays you, who sets the hours, who employs you. Its really simple to understand.
11
Corporate policy supported by "liberal policy" of the bought and paid for government...
3
I believe it is a combination of the two. As far as business goes this follows the rule of supply and demand. Their is a glut of laborers particularly in low wage fields which has been suppressing wages for the past decade. I expect corporate policy in regard to employee wages would be to be pay the lowest amount possible and still be able to attract employees. They are in the business of "business" and not social justice.
Liberal immigration policy has greatly exacerbated this problem. With all good intentions and a desire to help all of the worlds poor and downtrodden we are forsaking our own.
Liberal immigration policy has greatly exacerbated this problem. With all good intentions and a desire to help all of the worlds poor and downtrodden we are forsaking our own.
1
Both political parties support our current system. Edward Abbey wrote of this back in 1988: "What of it [unlimited immigration]? say the documented liberals; ours is a rich and generous nation, we have room for all, let them come. And let them stay, say the conservatives; a large, cheap, frightened, docile, surplus labor force is exactly what the economy needs. Put some fear into the unions: tighten discipline, spur productivity, whip up the competition for jobs. The conservatives love their cheap labor; the liberals love their cheap cause." -from "Immigration and Liberal Taboos"
One Life at a Time, Please | 1988 | Edward Abbey
One Life at a Time, Please | 1988 | Edward Abbey
10
And you, you love your "cheap shot".
The Obama Administration's economic policies are defying the laws of economic gravity.....The real issue is not income inequality but the poorest economic growth period in the past hundred years.
typical recovery takes about 12 to 13 months yet the US economy is currently still recovering (72 months and counting).....
typical recovery takes about 12 to 13 months yet the US economy is currently still recovering (72 months and counting).....
8
There can be no recovery when the supply of labor is increased every time wages start to rise.
Although this started with the first Reagan amnesty, both parties are complicit in the destruction of the middle class in America.
Although this started with the first Reagan amnesty, both parties are complicit in the destruction of the middle class in America.
2
2008-2009 wasn't a typical recession. It was closer to a Depression. Bump the gasoline tax a little and you've got your jobs for the massive and needed infrastructure. But Grover Norquist will flail and GOP who dares even think about it. Heck, they;re still digesting the corpse of the Ex-Im Bank.
This is not surprising. Low income workers are being hit from all sides. Competing against unskilled immigrant workers for jobs certainly doesn't help.
9
They are also the first victims of increased automation which has drasticly reduced the need for no-skil / low-skill workers.
3
Every politician who establishes a sanctuary city should be imprisoned
10
"Since 2000, more than 80 percent of the divergence between a typical (median) worker’s pay growth and overall net productivity growth has been driven by rising inequality (specifically, greater inequality of compensation and a falling share of income going to workers relative to capital owners). Over the entire 1973–2014 period, rising inequality explains over two-thirds of the productivity–pay divergence."
http://www.epi.org/publication/understanding-the-historic-divergence-bet...
http://www.epi.org/publication/understanding-the-historic-divergence-bet...
2
The world according to Chris Rock the comic. Remember school you had a few smart kids, a few dumb kids and the rest were just average. We are in fact a country of average if we want to ignore it or not. Everyone is not cut out to be a CEO or design the next app and make millions. Our problem is that we have allowed the minimum wage to stagnate so long we killed the ability to live for the dumb people. We allowed the employers that filled their ranks with minimum wage workers to profit while the society on a whole subsidized their workers for them. But the GOP wants to keep pretending that a higher minimum wage is bad. They can't prove it because it is a false statement! Increase the min. wage now not the $15 an hour but quickly increase it so that a couple can at least live on it.
6
When will people realize that importing poverty by the millions hurts the poorest Americans the most? With 17 million unemployed and underemployed and wages dropping for years, why do we continue to issue over 1 million visas to immigrants from the poorest, least educated, and under-developed nations? If we severely restricted immigration levels for a few years, employment and wages would rise.
12
"If we severely restricted immigration levels for a few years, employment and wages would rise."
Restricting legal immigration levels would have no effect due to the lack of effort to stop illegal aliens entering the US.
Restricting legal immigration levels would have no effect due to the lack of effort to stop illegal aliens entering the US.
5
This clearly has nothing to do with oversupply of low skill immigrant labour, as well as the increase in non-wage compensation (read: health insurance). The economy is doing fine, and the unemployment is what matters, not workforce participation or working part-time for economic reasons.
2
Hope and Change! Actually, chump change for the least among us as the government slowly shuts down the private sector with stifling regulations and extortionist taxes. The private sector that produces ALL the wealth and pays all--every single dime--of every workers salary. Tell the poor dupes who depend on government to take care of them to get a government job if their government-mandated minimum wage in the private sector isn't enough. Eventually, everyone will work for the nanny state, kinda like the Soviet Union especially during Stalin's reign. Goo ole socialism. It won't make us rich but at least it will make us all equally poor--except for the rulers and the apparatchik.
2
So allowing more poor, unskilled immigrants into the country will surely solve this problem.
24
What a surprise. You mean liberal policies that constrain the economy hurt the poor most? Just like they always have? Who'd have thunk it?
9
Liberal policies like what off shoring manufacturing I guess only liberals off shored jobs. Liberal policies like what increasing the min. wage. I guess you conservatives don't mind paying out billions a year to subsidize the full time minimium wage workers. I know taxes are bad even when it come to education your children. The problem with conservatives is you want everyone to be like your red states a race to the bottom.
1
Conservative policies do the same thing.
There is no difference, unfortunately, as both parties dance to the tune their corporate donors play.
There is no difference, unfortunately, as both parties dance to the tune their corporate donors play.
And the poor did so very well under the Conservatives?
The federal government has been able to balance its budget by simply raising taxes. If you want more money just do the same thing and raise your prices. no problem. (If it works for DC it works for everyone. (Or everyone works for DC. ;))
3
Under bidding jobs takes it's toll on contractual agreements. At some point even Rome lost sight of tenable employment and depended on non-Roman labor to lower costs. The end result was not good.
1
Keep defending the likes of Jorge Ramos and wages will continue to drop due to cheap foreign labor
23
Falling wages are the inevitable outcome of legal and illegal mass immigration at all skill levels, but most tellingly for the unskilled; that's why the plutocracy running this country pushes so hard for it. Consider that while for the average working stiff the US is home, to the elites the US isn't even a country, let alone a home with a familiar people and culture; it's just a labor market and a consumer market. And what the elites want (and get) from both parties is the freedom to maximize return on invested capital by managing these two markets without interference from the government. So, for example, when Microsoft laid off 20,000 skilled technical workers while simultaneously plumping for a massive expansion of the H1B visa program, claiming all the while that the US was short of workers with the very technical skills of those they had just discarded, nobody in either party said a word . . . That's the system working at its best, and the elites hope that once they raise the minimum wage or legalize marijuana or come up with some other distraction the suckers won't notice what's being done to them. Sadly, they're probably right.
39
Well lets see. Since 2009. The cost of energy has doubled. The cost of food has doubled. Due to obamacare the 29 hour work week is essentially mandatory to stay in business. Taxes have sky rocketed across the board.
Fundamental change.
Fundamental change.
12
But the government insists that inflation is low, it is just that everything costs a lot more.
1
Where are you getting your stats? Fed taxes are the lowest since Ike. Many states have lowered their taxes as well. Energy prices have remained stable or have been lowered since 2009. Obamacare, with all of its many flaws, has lowered the rise in health care costs nicely and millions have coverage where they didn't before. Corporate profits have been at record highs but their middle and working employee have not benefited. The bubble is strong with this one.
I agree...my hours were reduced to about 20 per week. I make more claiming numerous unemployment and food/rent benefits so...I don't "work" anymore 'less it's for cash.
10
And that's what is wrong with this country. People taking advantage of well-intended but naïve liberal policies. The liberals have expanded eligibility for everything and made it against the law to even ask if a student is eligible for free lunch.
And people like you making money under the table while not paying taxes and taking from those that are truly in need are the reason that many in this country are listening to a buffoon like Trump. And please don't tell me everyone else is doing it so why not you. Shame on you.
And people like you making money under the table while not paying taxes and taking from those that are truly in need are the reason that many in this country are listening to a buffoon like Trump. And please don't tell me everyone else is doing it so why not you. Shame on you.
Obama has kept wages artificially low and transferred wealth from the middle class to billionaires. Hillary and Jeb would continue these policies. Making all immigrant labor expensive is step 1 of the solution.
15
Ask a flooring Contractor how bad it has gotten. Our skilled labor rates have hardly changes at all since the 1980's. The cost of insurance and bond has increased... Cost of supplies increased... It's crazy to work as hard as we do for pennies.... We don't get minimum wage increases.... We just work harder as we watch sweat shops work hundreds of illegals. Usually under one license of which is NOT used to inspect the jobs... One legal contractor hardly works as he garners wages off of illegals.... I have seen this close up. This lawless stuff makes me sick... California has crushed the skilled labor system.
I work harder and harder to make less and less.... to pay for ever increasing insurance.... (Of which I never need.) To watch asylum cities grow. The Housing boon was harnessing illegal labor and it is starting back up again...
We all should recognize how bad this has gotten.. We aren't asking for the rich to pay more.... We are simply asking this administration to enforce laws which stabilize wages based on legal work ethics. Not a big request.
Our President likes cheap untaxed employers....as he saturates the market lowering rates that were already bad.....
I work harder and harder to make less and less.... to pay for ever increasing insurance.... (Of which I never need.) To watch asylum cities grow. The Housing boon was harnessing illegal labor and it is starting back up again...
We all should recognize how bad this has gotten.. We aren't asking for the rich to pay more.... We are simply asking this administration to enforce laws which stabilize wages based on legal work ethics. Not a big request.
Our President likes cheap untaxed employers....as he saturates the market lowering rates that were already bad.....
30
The reason you are failing is that you have no organization to protect your interest. You either have to organize or you are lost. Get your like minded guys together and stand in front of the licensing (state org) and tell them you are going to start reporting a contractor that has people illegally working under his license. Demand the building inspectors do their job and visit the site checking for violations. Call the labor board and find out what you have to do to report this abuse. You have to do it your self, you have to force the system to work the way it is designed to. I bet if you got a group of your like minded buddies together and all converged on a job site one day with signs call, the license board, the labor board, the tax authority and made a stink you would get coverage.
1
This started under Reagan and both political parties are responsible for this.
Yes, but our president also knows this is the best way to keep people asking for more from government, and voting Democrat. He's also hoping to fill the coffers with cap and trade dollars. Just watch how many will have to depend on the government once energy costs sky rocket.
2
Bringing in millions of undocumented workers with inferior education to suppress the wages of those Americans on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder is an act of love.
45
Well, with all the jobs being given to H1B visa, look at Disney, hiring all H1B immigrants and firing US Citizens.
Then Obama economic programs kicking in and encouraging low income with more and more entitlement programs.
Obama should take credit for this, but you know that will never happen.
Then Obama economic programs kicking in and encouraging low income with more and more entitlement programs.
Obama should take credit for this, but you know that will never happen.
37
This is just simple economics folks. Since 2008 US corporations have gone into a special accounting mode where they hoard money and desperately cut cost in order to give Wallstreet the illusion of *growth*. The ACA and Dodd/Frank have put enormous pressure on big business to remain is this mode. As such, "real investment" hasn't happened since mid 2007. The fact that wages have not gone up is a result of a surplus in the labor market. So, it all goes back to jobs. What will it take to get US businesses to start investing and hiring again? The answers are simple but ideologically inconvenient.
19
The elephant in the room that the NYT and most of the media want you to ignore is immigration. Of course wages will drop when the labor market is flooded with excess labor.
Immigration is a disease like the corruption and green in the Enron scandal or the mortgage-backed securities fraud. People tell you to shut up and not talk about it. because some people are making big money out of it.
Then the Ponzi scheme crashes, and we - or our children - all pay for it.
Immigration is a disease like the corruption and green in the Enron scandal or the mortgage-backed securities fraud. People tell you to shut up and not talk about it. because some people are making big money out of it.
Then the Ponzi scheme crashes, and we - or our children - all pay for it.
45
It is more than that it is a function of people. If you look at the populations of CA, TX, AZ, NV to start with they could not have built like they have over the last 50 years without illegal labor. They just did not have the population to do it. These states could not attract legal citizens in the number they needed to build out the states because there is not an excess of people looking to relocate especially at the lower wages. I have seen the government numbers of 11 million illegals but the number is much higher.
So...let's get rid of all those illegal immigrants and give Americans the chance to work for even less or get paid under-the-table. Hmmm.. hard to consider that a great way to "grow the economy" as anti-immigration advocates promote.
It's simple exploitation, whether you were born here or not. The companies paying low wages now will continue to pay low wages until forced to do otherwise.
It's simple exploitation, whether you were born here or not. The companies paying low wages now will continue to pay low wages until forced to do otherwise.
i guess raising the minimum wage didnt work.
8
My comment is in reference to Ms. Almodovar's comment that she has not received a raise since 2007. This article makes no mention of Ms. Almodovar's benefits package. If she is a full-time nurses assistant (as the article implies) then she must be receiving health benefits as well as vacation/sick time. This should be included in any report of her 'salary.' As costs of healthcare skyrocket employers are forced to increase what they pay for their employees benefits packages and all too often any increase in wage is applied to this rising cost - not the hourly rate an employee is paid. Yet many employees fail to include this benefit when they look at what they earn - they rely solely on their hourly rate.
10
The hourly rate is what they live on. You can't pay your bills with health benefits, if any.
8
That does not negate the fact that their wages (cost to the employer) includes health benefits.
1
One thing I've noticed (and I've worked in the insurance industry) is that employers seldom decrease their own salaries when times are tough and instead pass on the tightened belt to their employees. Case in point, employers would decrease employee's health insurance benefits by putting them on a deductible plan that would also up prescription out-of-pocket costs to $50, emergency room 'co-pays' of $250 and would also make the employees pay a hefty portion of the policy's cost to boot. While you could officially say that those employees "had benefits" they were too expensive to use, meaning those people still did not have real health coverage. Rather despicable.
4
this is why unions were organized throughout the 20th century. labor history is the story of how wages were raised through organized action by low-paid workers. stop the tpp's race to the bottom and American workers will have a chance at manufacturing what we use again.
11
And yet, the unions all support the Democrats who bring in immigrants to compete for jobs. And the unions all support Obama who shoved the TPP down our throat.
8
"stop the tpp's race to the bottom and American workers will have a chance at manufacturing what we use again"
The TPP is nothing. Obama's trade team is also negotiating a service sector trade agreement that will allow companies to bring workers into the US with no visa requirement, no requirement to hire local workers. So these low paid home health care providers will likely soon be Philippines, Indonesians, even Bangladeshi. At the same time, it is highly unlikely that any US citizen workers beyond the those with the very highest skill levels will gain additional employment opportunities as a result of this treaty.
The elite among us (including the saintly Obama) are more concerned about world poverty. US poverty is comfortable compared to Bangladeshi poverty.
The TPP is nothing. Obama's trade team is also negotiating a service sector trade agreement that will allow companies to bring workers into the US with no visa requirement, no requirement to hire local workers. So these low paid home health care providers will likely soon be Philippines, Indonesians, even Bangladeshi. At the same time, it is highly unlikely that any US citizen workers beyond the those with the very highest skill levels will gain additional employment opportunities as a result of this treaty.
The elite among us (including the saintly Obama) are more concerned about world poverty. US poverty is comfortable compared to Bangladeshi poverty.
3
The price of everything else goes up while wages stagnate? That is precisely the Federal Reserve's strategy for lowering unemployment. It's the whole point behind quantitative easing and ZIRP. It comes straight out of Keynes' General Theory...". And apparently it's working!
Glory be to the Federal Reserve! The bankers and capitalists get rich (i.e., richer) and the vast underclass hunkers down in survival mode. That's the thing about capitalism. It is inherently unstable because it is inherently inequitable. And more so, when the capitalists have captured the levers of state power to manipulate and exploit to their advantage.
There was a similar disparity in wealth and income immediately preceding the Great Depression. Correlation aint causation, but...when the capitalists have so impoverished the proletariat that they can't afford to buy what the capitalists are selling, then the whole thing collapses on itself. Because nothing is made or done without which a human being consumer is its ultimate object.
'Let 'em eat cake' should be this economy's rallying cry.
Glory be to the Federal Reserve! The bankers and capitalists get rich (i.e., richer) and the vast underclass hunkers down in survival mode. That's the thing about capitalism. It is inherently unstable because it is inherently inequitable. And more so, when the capitalists have captured the levers of state power to manipulate and exploit to their advantage.
There was a similar disparity in wealth and income immediately preceding the Great Depression. Correlation aint causation, but...when the capitalists have so impoverished the proletariat that they can't afford to buy what the capitalists are selling, then the whole thing collapses on itself. Because nothing is made or done without which a human being consumer is its ultimate object.
'Let 'em eat cake' should be this economy's rallying cry.
16
Right tovarisch. Socialism works so great in the USSR, Cuba, N Korea, China, Vietnam, etc.
2
And capitalism might be working swell for the 1%, but it ain't doing much for the 99. And all those places you cite were also radically inequitable. They weren't socialism as much as economic autocracies run amok.
The point of an economic system has to be the enhancement of the welfare of the people comprising it. Capitalism in the US is failing on that measure, mainly because the capitalists in the US captured the system so they could operate it to their advantage. They don't know it, but their wage slaves are making the rope from which they will eventually be hung.
The point of an economic system has to be the enhancement of the welfare of the people comprising it. Capitalism in the US is failing on that measure, mainly because the capitalists in the US captured the system so they could operate it to their advantage. They don't know it, but their wage slaves are making the rope from which they will eventually be hung.
1
This is "Republican" capitalism at work. The idea is to extract as much money (and blood, too - the low paid workers are the ones doing most of the dying in the Middle East in support of Republican wars) as possible from everyone who is not rich - and then transfer it to the rich. That is the only way to make the rich get richer.
The sanest response to this tragedy is to explain it to the poor, to motivate them to register and vote. Voting the kleptocrats out of office is the best way to improve the lot of the poor and the middle class.
The sanest response to this tragedy is to explain it to the poor, to motivate them to register and vote. Voting the kleptocrats out of office is the best way to improve the lot of the poor and the middle class.
9
The Dems created this more than the Reps - it's not capitalism or a free market, but government intervention and growing entitlements that created this issue. And by entitlements, I refer to free cell phones, welfare, SNAP, free school lunches, tax credit, child credit, ADC, subsidized health insurance, and all the winners from the Dodd Frank and ACA legislation. Just wait for TPP. Obama has increased the number of HB-1 Visas by more than 3 fold under the pretense that we don't have the workforce to fill the jobs at home.
Eliminate all the freebies and corporate winners and instate common sense regulations like Glass Seagall. Stop overnight stock gambling and day trading, limit foreign ownership and tax foreigners on their holding even if they don't live there 6 months of the year. And, please, rewrite the ACA so that it is not a giveaway to insurance and a mandate that a young man buy neonatal and maternity care.
Eliminate all the freebies and corporate winners and instate common sense regulations like Glass Seagall. Stop overnight stock gambling and day trading, limit foreign ownership and tax foreigners on their holding even if they don't live there 6 months of the year. And, please, rewrite the ACA so that it is not a giveaway to insurance and a mandate that a young man buy neonatal and maternity care.
1
This article lays out the reasons so called real wages are low fairly accurately. Unfortunately, it's also written with a raft of liberal assumptions that Big Brother ought to step in and supply us with the a socialist solution.
But there is one gem that gets overlooked in all of the emphasis on two low paid workers. The first, the health care worker, gained marginal skills and training. She got a GED, but contrary to the article that is NOT the equivalent of a high school diploma, though it is a lower qualified replacement. The veteran I can't explain. I would submit there is more there than meets the eye.
What is apparent is the U.S. is woefully unprepared and unable to match workers and skill sets and then provide training and support to allow them into higher paying skill sets. But by the same token, let's be realistic. A great number of these people will be untrainable beyond where they are for many reasons ranging from intellect to personal lack of responsibility and discipline. For those who can do these things we should tailor programs that work.
Also, we've many infrastructure projects ranging from water to highways and bridges of all level and kinds that never were sufficiently harnessed in the past 10 years that could be undertaken and should be as they are needed. Upgrading the country on an ongoing basis would help a lot with this issue and provide better jobs. Are we willing to pay for that?
But there is one gem that gets overlooked in all of the emphasis on two low paid workers. The first, the health care worker, gained marginal skills and training. She got a GED, but contrary to the article that is NOT the equivalent of a high school diploma, though it is a lower qualified replacement. The veteran I can't explain. I would submit there is more there than meets the eye.
What is apparent is the U.S. is woefully unprepared and unable to match workers and skill sets and then provide training and support to allow them into higher paying skill sets. But by the same token, let's be realistic. A great number of these people will be untrainable beyond where they are for many reasons ranging from intellect to personal lack of responsibility and discipline. For those who can do these things we should tailor programs that work.
Also, we've many infrastructure projects ranging from water to highways and bridges of all level and kinds that never were sufficiently harnessed in the past 10 years that could be undertaken and should be as they are needed. Upgrading the country on an ongoing basis would help a lot with this issue and provide better jobs. Are we willing to pay for that?
6
The Teachers support more money for the Unions support more money for the Politicians support more money for the Department of Education support more money for teachers support more money for the Unions support more money for the Politicians support more money for the Department of Education support more money....
Doe's educating anyone fit in this loop anywhere? What do we care we are getting ours. ;)
Doe's educating anyone fit in this loop anywhere? What do we care we are getting ours. ;)
1
Just listen to our government: There is no inflation. Jobs are being added and unemployment is down.
So, why don't these folks just go across the street and get a higher paying job? We know why. They don't exist at this level.
Let's just raise the minimum wage. Wait, all wages will go up as will inflation and these folks will be in the same boat.
So, why don't these folks just go across the street and get a higher paying job? We know why. They don't exist at this level.
Let's just raise the minimum wage. Wait, all wages will go up as will inflation and these folks will be in the same boat.
12
As a former Midwest employer, I can give you two important interconnected reasons why worker's incomes in the USA are so low or even nonexistent:
1. the so-called "free trade"/WTO agreements pus production in the USA (where there are enforced minimum wage/environmental/health and safety agreements) in direct competition with production in parts of the world where there are no enforced wage or environmental or health standards. Producing in the USA under these agreements produces bankruptcy for employers and unemployment for the former employees.
2. For the jobs that remain in the USA, there is a huge and growing pool of unemployed or underemployed, many of whom are illegal or legal immigrants, that are eager to work for low wages or completely off the books. With such a huge pool of labor for the remaining work,i.e. such a huge labor supply, there is no need to raise wages to get or retain help.
1. the so-called "free trade"/WTO agreements pus production in the USA (where there are enforced minimum wage/environmental/health and safety agreements) in direct competition with production in parts of the world where there are no enforced wage or environmental or health standards. Producing in the USA under these agreements produces bankruptcy for employers and unemployment for the former employees.
2. For the jobs that remain in the USA, there is a huge and growing pool of unemployed or underemployed, many of whom are illegal or legal immigrants, that are eager to work for low wages or completely off the books. With such a huge pool of labor for the remaining work,i.e. such a huge labor supply, there is no need to raise wages to get or retain help.
60
Even w/o a free trade we would be competing with cheaper overseas labor costs because that is their competitive advantage. Cost of these goods, plus the tariff, would make them more expensive for our consumers whose now higher wage would buy them less. What we really have is a government not that interested in workers in fact but in talk they are very interested.
Well Gee most of these jobs require minimal to no skills, and of course those working as waiters etc. probably make more than they report. Yes technology allows skilled workers to do a lot more requiring fewer of them to do what is required. Global competition for manufacturing has eliminated many low skill but decent paying jobs.
3
Until we get a higher minimum wage passed. Then the business owners will automate the jobs and hire (much fewer;) (Union) workers who will pay dues (Win for the Unions (Yea!! ;)) New business will not be able to start up. (So less Competition (Win for BIG business (Yea!! ;)) And the Big business will be able to make bigger donations to the politicians (Yea!! ;) So Win. Win! WIN!! (suckers. ;)
Earth to Mr. Schwartz, an economy where take home pay is falling is not an "improving economy".
30
My raises were frozen for two of the past ten years at the large university where I work. The other eight years, my raises were 1.5%. After taxes, that came to $50 a month.
A month.
Every one of us workers are poorer than they were a decade ago. (Inflation is low, it is just that everything costs much more.)
The president of my non-profit (!) university gave himself a 25% raise, bringing his base pay up to $1.5 million. That does not include his multi-millionaire dollar apartment (free!), or his 1.9% $800,000 mortgage on his summer home (forgiven 20% every year), or the fact that when he retires, coincidentally five years after he took out that mortgage, he will have a pension of $800,000 a year. Even if he paid a 33% tax rate (sure he does!), that would still be $44,000 a month.
A month.
And what about our pensions, you ask?
Guess.
A month.
Every one of us workers are poorer than they were a decade ago. (Inflation is low, it is just that everything costs much more.)
The president of my non-profit (!) university gave himself a 25% raise, bringing his base pay up to $1.5 million. That does not include his multi-millionaire dollar apartment (free!), or his 1.9% $800,000 mortgage on his summer home (forgiven 20% every year), or the fact that when he retires, coincidentally five years after he took out that mortgage, he will have a pension of $800,000 a year. Even if he paid a 33% tax rate (sure he does!), that would still be $44,000 a month.
A month.
And what about our pensions, you ask?
Guess.
the inexhaustible supply of untrained, uneducated, and under-qualified workers will continue to suppress wages at the bottom, even as shortages spread among more qualified job seekers
21
Wait about 15 minutes before employers decry the "skills shortage" necessitating ALL skill levels get unlimited visas from overseas. Behold, a global wage dystopia. It's almost like workers don't vote anymore. I hardly see one candidate who supports them (and no, Hillary and Bernie do NOT). Trump might but I'm not sure yet.
There are no shortages of "more qualified job seekers" in this country, there is only an unwillingness to enforce immigration laws, and a serious interest in acting against the interests of its own citizens by our government. Why is that? Simple, our representatives are taking bribes from Wall Street. Is this actual money changing hands? No usually. It will be more like Hillary Clinton's Tyson Chicken bribe, or insider stock tips (Congress made that LEGAL for your elected crooks, I mean representatives), cheap loans that never have to be repaid, free home renovations and vacations, etc. They are all on the take and we are the ones getting screwed.
1
Greed is a sickness that is destroying America.
Instead of being a means to create betters lives for ordinary people, capitalism has become a cruel force that places obscene amounts of wealth in a few hands.
When a relatively-small number of people hold tens of billions of dollars, they can buy themselves governments that will provide them with even more money and power.
They can suck up the housing stocks in desirable places like San Francisco, Seattle and Manhattan, often paying fifty or a hundred thousand (in cash) above asking prices for properties and effectively shutting the middle class out of home ownership. Hey, it's a great investment strategy.
They can turn the United States into their own personal fiefdom where women and men can toil long hours in several jobs and still be unable to support their families and to flourish.
Tens of millions of people are living lives of desperation with no relief in sight.
The powers-that-be are militarizing local police forces and building hundreds of new prisons. Each time public attention lapses, I suspect the NSA finds secret new ways to monitor every spoken or written thought of the citizenry. They know from history that economic pain can result in very bad outcomes in a society. (One only has to look at Germany in the 1920s and early '30s.)
Where will it all end for us in the United States of America?
Tragically, it is our children and grandchildren who will discover the answer to that question.
Instead of being a means to create betters lives for ordinary people, capitalism has become a cruel force that places obscene amounts of wealth in a few hands.
When a relatively-small number of people hold tens of billions of dollars, they can buy themselves governments that will provide them with even more money and power.
They can suck up the housing stocks in desirable places like San Francisco, Seattle and Manhattan, often paying fifty or a hundred thousand (in cash) above asking prices for properties and effectively shutting the middle class out of home ownership. Hey, it's a great investment strategy.
They can turn the United States into their own personal fiefdom where women and men can toil long hours in several jobs and still be unable to support their families and to flourish.
Tens of millions of people are living lives of desperation with no relief in sight.
The powers-that-be are militarizing local police forces and building hundreds of new prisons. Each time public attention lapses, I suspect the NSA finds secret new ways to monitor every spoken or written thought of the citizenry. They know from history that economic pain can result in very bad outcomes in a society. (One only has to look at Germany in the 1920s and early '30s.)
Where will it all end for us in the United States of America?
Tragically, it is our children and grandchildren who will discover the answer to that question.
14
Another issue to consider is the impact of 11 million undocumented immigrants who are also competing for low end jobs and who, because of their status, are easily exploited. This large, cheap labor pool must certainly have some impact.
39
And discussion that doesn't put the issue of immigration, legal and illegal, at the forefront is a pretend discussion.
And most are paid under the table. What makes that even worse is that they qualify for all sorts of freebies at the tax payers expense. There are a lot of hard working people in this country that are tired of carrying the 47%, especially as we see them buying new cars, getting their nails done, and moving into homes we can only dream about.
1
A fundamental problem is an unclear vision about the role of work and money in our society, culture and nation.
Is the goal of "work" simply to provide money, which in turn provides the material stuff that people need or desire?
Or is it a way for each individual to find satisfaction at being productive and/or being involved in a fulfilling activity/vocation?
Either way, it is important to do better at helping people find their way to a good place in our huge and chaotic, "free" (as in poor) society. Our inattention to helping people find their way in our country is hurting us badly.
Is the goal of "work" simply to provide money, which in turn provides the material stuff that people need or desire?
Or is it a way for each individual to find satisfaction at being productive and/or being involved in a fulfilling activity/vocation?
Either way, it is important to do better at helping people find their way to a good place in our huge and chaotic, "free" (as in poor) society. Our inattention to helping people find their way in our country is hurting us badly.
7
I'll suggest a more fundamental problem is a country's responsibility to her citizens above the needs/wants of foreigners.
Does it have to be either/or? Why can't work provide both pay well and be fulfilling?
Not only low income workers. Professionals aren't getting much for raises either. Isn't it interesting how the salary cap in job categories is getting lower and lower, and employees have reached the "top" of that line in salary in a shorter and shorter period of time?
It used to be it took awhile to reach the top of that salary cap. Not anymore. Thus, the companies can hold you still to your capped salary if you want to stay in the job you have. Your paycheck? The same - week after week and now year after year.
Not hard to figure out why pay scales are stagnant. If you want a job, and you want to keep your job, you are held hostage by your company who just doesn't want to pay you anymore - ever - to do it. Meanwhile the CEO's and others in "administration" don't seem to have caps, in addition to even getting bonuses. Then of course, we have legislators and governors who do away with unions, and make states right to work. "Right to work" maybe, but no more "worker's rights." The Sally Field days of Norma Rae are gone folks.
It's mostly now - get up in the morning, go to work, shut up, and do your job if you want to hang on to it, no matter how long or how short you've been doing it. Makes a day worth looking forward to, doesn't it?
It used to be it took awhile to reach the top of that salary cap. Not anymore. Thus, the companies can hold you still to your capped salary if you want to stay in the job you have. Your paycheck? The same - week after week and now year after year.
Not hard to figure out why pay scales are stagnant. If you want a job, and you want to keep your job, you are held hostage by your company who just doesn't want to pay you anymore - ever - to do it. Meanwhile the CEO's and others in "administration" don't seem to have caps, in addition to even getting bonuses. Then of course, we have legislators and governors who do away with unions, and make states right to work. "Right to work" maybe, but no more "worker's rights." The Sally Field days of Norma Rae are gone folks.
It's mostly now - get up in the morning, go to work, shut up, and do your job if you want to hang on to it, no matter how long or how short you've been doing it. Makes a day worth looking forward to, doesn't it?
56
You like the article didn't mention the 20 millions illegal aliens in the country and the H1B immigrant visas given to foreigners to come and take American jobs. If you can't admit the problem there will never be a solution.
1
Imagine a U.S. job market without 12 million illegal immigrants.
49
No surprise here, Vote Bernie Sanders.
5
Yes, tovarisch. Bernie will send each of us a check every month. We deserve it.
These people need a PERSONAL COMMITTMENT ACCOUNTABILITY plan of where they want to be in five years. They need to go back to school perhaps become an L.P.N. (licensed practical nurse). And not count on society to raise their wage throughout their lifetime. It is called "ambition."
3
An L.P.N. is also very underpaid.
Finally, the economic evidence indicates that the rising gap between productivity and pay for the vast majority likely has nothing to do with any stagnation in the typical worker’s individual productivity. For example, even the lowest-paid American workers have made considerable gains in educational attainment and experience in recent decades, which should have raised their productivity
http://www.epi.org/publication/understanding-the-historic-divergence-bet...
http://www.epi.org/publication/understanding-the-historic-divergence-bet...
The republican socialist program of income redistribution seems to be working effectively
5
The republican socialist program of income redistribution. Obama is the one want income redistribution. It will take at twenty years before this country if great again after Obama and the democrats.
1
Surprise, surprise, right? Hey, but we're recovering right? Moving forward, right? Economy is booming, right? Wrong, wrong, wrong. For all the talk, nothing has changed for years nor will it change anytime soon. While some of my friends and family have been able to find jobs, most have been worthless regarding pay. The last example given in the article is disgusting. Send a soldier to war and he comes home to work...in a fast food place? Our country has been on the highway to hell for far too long. There are very few elected that actually give a fig, Democrat or Republican. One of the very few is Bernie Sanders. If we can't get someone in a position of power that truly cares for the average American, that is willing to fight it'll stay same as it ever was, same as it ever was. And if that is the case, then get ready for us to crash and then burn. It's hard for me to say God bless America anymore. God help America is more appropriate. Because, Lord, do we need it.
11
Bernie will wave a wand and make a $8/hr worker worth $50/hr.
1
Either we have a confiscatory tax on incomes over 20 times what the lowest-paid workers earn, or we will have a class war. This country is becoming the antithesis of what my ancestors shed their sweat and blood to build and protect between 1630 and 1945. And enough with the "illegal immigrant" nonsense. Unless your ancestors were here to greet mine, you are the descendant of illegal immigrants.
1
Yes, tovarisch. We must punish those who succeed.
Who do they think they are?
Who do they think they are?
1
well, it's been a long time and at least PK now says wages need to rise, but for the longest time he endorsed higher inflation to cure our economic ills. I hope this shows very who'd been getting hurt the most by that higher inflation policy. There are the very people who also get zero return on their savings (interest rates) and don't have money to "invest". Interesting how you don't bring in the federal reserve into the discussion, but I expect the nytimes to almost always deflect how fed policy hurt the bottom of the ladder the most. They can't borrow at less than the rate of inflation to invest in speculation. They get a negative return on any savings they have, and they don't have savings. You know deflation would hurt the stock market effectively give them a pay raise. Hence we have "inflation targeting". It's criminal how "economic policy" has traditionally ignored distributional aspects of monetary policy
3
Real wages of home health aides are falling. Is the hourly rate that recipients pay to the agencies through which they hire the aides falling (in real terms), too? I doubt it. My guess is the agencies are reaping the difference. But I'd love the NYT to do an article providing some hard data.
7
The increases in worker's wages need to come out of the owner's cut, not out of the other worker's cut by the owners cutting people's hours.
When just 400 families own over 90% of the wealth in this country, that leaves nothing for the masses and one day the masses will have enough of it and turn on them. They should see paying the workers of this country a living wage as insurance against revolution but their greed has turned their brains to mush.
Enough is enough!
When just 400 families own over 90% of the wealth in this country, that leaves nothing for the masses and one day the masses will have enough of it and turn on them. They should see paying the workers of this country a living wage as insurance against revolution but their greed has turned their brains to mush.
Enough is enough!
15
Maybe there are too many masses. How about cutting immigration and make labor a sought-after commodity ?
4
Sounds like a good idea but will the people of Georgia pay $4 for a single Peach since it won't be paid for by immigrant labor?
Doesn't anyone have common sense anymore? Millions of undocumented workers have to pull the wage scale down. Dozens of industries would be forced to pay more to legal workers if that competition did not exist!
20
If their would be real penalties for the dozens of industries hiring the undocumented workers that world force them to pay more too. But these industries expect a return on their bribes (I mean contributions) to politicians.
5
I can see the undocumented factor in the case of home care providers but not so much the janitorial, retail and fast food firms where they have to be careful about these things. There is no reason to let them off the hook and conveniently put 100% of the blame on illegal immigrants. Can you document your assertion, please?
4
Find a way to go back to school. There are so many programs out there; but you have to want to better yourself. No one will empower you but yourself. In the Cleveland, Ohio three major educational sources are: Lakeland Community College, Cuyahoga Community College, and Cleveland State University. All three institutions have re-entry programs, help with financial aid, and child care. In 1990 with the help of the Woman's Re-Entry Program at Cleveland State University I was able to complete a degree in Social Work and have been in the field for the past twenty-three years. I was a single parent going nowhere fast until I picked myself off that couch and put my good brain to use. The odds were stacked against me. If I can do this, so can you.
3
"Finally, the economic evidence indicates that the rising gap between productivity and pay for the vast majority likely has nothing to do with any stagnation in the typical worker’s individual productivity. For example, even the lowest-paid American workers have made considerable gains in educational attainment and experience in recent decades, which should have raised their productivity."
http://www.epi.org/publication/understanding-the-historic-divergence-bet...
http://www.epi.org/publication/understanding-the-historic-divergence-bet...
2
I hate to break it to you, but 1990 is not 2015. My husband was a 40-something blue collar guy when we met; four years ago, he began taking classes at the local community college, with the ultimate plan of getting into healthcare. He became a certified nurse aide (like the woman featured in the article). He makes about $9/hr, doing, at times, back-breaking work (lifting 100+ of dead weight from a bed, onto the toilet, into the bathtub, etc. is hard on your back, knees, legs, etc.). He can only work PT in order to have enough time to go to class and study. He's only eligible for loans, because I make too much. And new financial aid rules cap how long he can receive those loans -- we're now in limbo b/c he has to appeal their decision to cut off loans, b/c he's been in school "too long."
But he just got into, and started, the program to become a radiographer -- two weeks after turning 50. They've told students to expect to study at least 40 hours a week, on top of 4 days of week in class. He's had to drop three of his five weekly shifts, and we're thinking the other two will go soon.
The only way he's able to do any of this is with a wife who works two jobs to keep us afloat and parents who aren't opposed to chipping in when our budget gets tight.
That is the truth. This isn't a "if I did it two decades ago, people can do it today!" situation. The world has changed dramatically -- and we do ourselves, and others, a disservice if we choose to ignore that.
But he just got into, and started, the program to become a radiographer -- two weeks after turning 50. They've told students to expect to study at least 40 hours a week, on top of 4 days of week in class. He's had to drop three of his five weekly shifts, and we're thinking the other two will go soon.
The only way he's able to do any of this is with a wife who works two jobs to keep us afloat and parents who aren't opposed to chipping in when our budget gets tight.
That is the truth. This isn't a "if I did it two decades ago, people can do it today!" situation. The world has changed dramatically -- and we do ourselves, and others, a disservice if we choose to ignore that.
6
Once again, a NYTimes reporter fails to mention the 800 lb gorilla in the room -- how millions of legal and illegal immigrants, that our government has encouraged, drive down wages of American citizens. This policy affects both high skill and low skill American workers.
It's simply the economic Law of Supply and Demand working in the labor market: if the supply of a commodity (labor) is kept high, the cost of that commodity (wages) goes down. Since the NYTimes wants to keep this concept a secret, read more at the website of the Economic Policy institute, as well as this excellent organization: Progressives for Immigration Reform
http://www.progressivesforimmigrationreform.org/shift-in-immigration-pol...
It's simply the economic Law of Supply and Demand working in the labor market: if the supply of a commodity (labor) is kept high, the cost of that commodity (wages) goes down. Since the NYTimes wants to keep this concept a secret, read more at the website of the Economic Policy institute, as well as this excellent organization: Progressives for Immigration Reform
http://www.progressivesforimmigrationreform.org/shift-in-immigration-pol...
34
No raise since 2007? 9.50 an hour with a 12 year old? Who is this employer?
2
What does the 12-year-old have to do with it?
Should we pay people more if they have children? Her employer didn't tell her to have children with no father.
Should we pay people more if they have children? Her employer didn't tell her to have children with no father.
5
It sounds to me like the profits are going to low taxed income for the wealthy. This accounts for about 1/3 of lost revenue to education causing the rise in tuition This is particularly so at community colleges that train people for work). So, it's a kind of cruel joke when we tell people to "go back to school" to make more money. Moreover, they are usually taught by people with a lot of education making the same low wages. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate talking about economic changes that would affect this situation.
7
Minimum wage does need to go up but the $15 figure they keep throwing is to much. Also unemployment is not really down just more people stopped looking or lost their benefits and not counted or it would be closer to 20% ad to that all the extra "fees"and taxes Obama has dumped onus since 2009 and no wonder people can't make it- yes the CEOs are over paid and all the rest on top get to much but that is only part of the problem the bigger part is government and Obama's price increases- add to that all the things that price went up claiming the cost of gas was cause yet gas way down but nothing that went up came back down at same time
2
This decline in compensation for the bottom quintile has been going on for decades as the obsession with productivity has been one of the primary measure of economic success. The perspective that the health of a society can be measured by the bottom line of its businesses misses the reality that the physical, social, and psychological well being its people is compromised by their impoverishment.
39
As the Government encourages illegal immigrants to continue coming in an keeping wages suppressed for their rich donors.
4
Pay attention of how the free market works. Companies are beginning to shift voluntarily on their policies to retain the best talent available.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/upshot/big-leaps-for-parental-leave-if...
Should business decide to increase wages for works should be their decision, and not the government's since the forces of the free market system will either force a business to increase wages to retain talent or go out of business..
I have more faith in "American Ingenuity" than I do in any form of government intervention....
Connect the dots rather than stuck on the same old, same old rhetoric that business owners' are the root of all evil.....
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/upshot/big-leaps-for-parental-leave-if...
Should business decide to increase wages for works should be their decision, and not the government's since the forces of the free market system will either force a business to increase wages to retain talent or go out of business..
I have more faith in "American Ingenuity" than I do in any form of government intervention....
Connect the dots rather than stuck on the same old, same old rhetoric that business owners' are the root of all evil.....
2
'...the forces of the free market system will either force a business to increase wages to retain talent...'
That only works if corporations cannot bribe politicians to open up the immigration floodgates every time wages start to rise.
So, never.
That only works if corporations cannot bribe politicians to open up the immigration floodgates every time wages start to rise.
So, never.
5
Home health care wages are paid mostly by elderly on Social Security and other fixed incomes. Those payments don't keep up with inflation either once you factor in medical expenses, yet politicians propose that the SS COLA is still too high. That home health aide has to cost the client at least $15/hr after taxes etc. If the aide comes in 3 hr/day, that's ~$15,000 per year, which would pretty much consume ALL of the average Social Security benefit. How many seniors can afford to pay more than that? In retail, traditionally the employer of last resort, workers are in effect now competing with Amazon and its robots. Raise retail wages and prices, and more business will simply be driven online and the retail jobs eliminated. The inconvenient truth is that the intrinsic value of human labor, especially unskilled labor, to the economy is steadily declining. But no mention at all of immigration? Is there any denying that immigration is a major factor, if not the largest factor, in eroding wages at the low end? Raise home health aide wages and seniors will instead find undocumented aides whom they can pay in cash to keep costs down.
9
The .1% are robbing the country blind and nobody but Bernie seems to notice or care.
7
Please describe this "robbery" as committed by Gates, Buffet, Zukerburg, Bezos, the Walton's, Mrs. Steven Jobs, the Google founders, the founders of Uber, Airb&B, --even the Koch brothers, or even Donald Trump. As far as I can see, all of these 1 per centers have achieved their wealth by providing goods and services that others value highly--something, for example, that cannot be said about the USA Dept. of Education or most urban school systems.
1
They say raise minimum wage and that's all fine but if people cant make it now what makes you think raising the min which in turn will raise prices just how ill that help?
Cost of living goes up and don't matter what you make unless you make good money in a career working for min will never get you out of debt of te poor house no matter the wage.
If people are not spending businesses are not making money therefore the raise will jack all prices up so its doesn't really matter you wil not come out any better but worst you wont qualify for any assistance..
Does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out but liberals don't listen and think they know how it all works but look its done nothing for the people in the states who raised their minimum..
Cost of living goes up and don't matter what you make unless you make good money in a career working for min will never get you out of debt of te poor house no matter the wage.
If people are not spending businesses are not making money therefore the raise will jack all prices up so its doesn't really matter you wil not come out any better but worst you wont qualify for any assistance..
Does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out but liberals don't listen and think they know how it all works but look its done nothing for the people in the states who raised their minimum..
2
The problem is what it always has been: the people who run the country and set the policies are untouched by the plight of most Americans, and when it's brought to their attention, they set about demonizing those Americans as slothful, short-sighted, or worse. The people who run the country and set the policies live in their own little bubbles with others of their kind, and unless they make an effort, they never have to see or know about people like Ms. Almodovar, and they can spin whatever convenient fantasies they like about the other 49%. This is what has dragged the nation down to the crucible of cruelty and balkanization it has become, and has made it possible for us to walk past growing numbers of homeless people with the smug self-assurance that it would never happen to us.
49
America may be the land of the free, but for millions of people, it no longer comes without a heavy price.
“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers
has any right to continue in this country.” (1933, Statement on National Industrial Recovery Act)
How about siphoning some of that CEO money to your bottom feeders? The Healthcare industry is rife with under staffing and overworking, which causes neglect and unintended abuse that it then seeks their lawyers to cover up. Time for a revolutionary edict similar to 1933, only make it a mandatory law. Upper management does the least and is paid the most.
has any right to continue in this country.” (1933, Statement on National Industrial Recovery Act)
How about siphoning some of that CEO money to your bottom feeders? The Healthcare industry is rife with under staffing and overworking, which causes neglect and unintended abuse that it then seeks their lawyers to cover up. Time for a revolutionary edict similar to 1933, only make it a mandatory law. Upper management does the least and is paid the most.
5
Yes, let the Blue Eagle fly again. Do you actually know anything about the adverse consequences and chaos created by the NIRA. Mercifully, the supreme court killed it before it could continue its destruction.
Well the intended consequences are clear, to spark the class warfare that the NYT has fueled for years and to provide fodder to a struggling democratic presidential nominee...
In the end, everyone has seen real wages decline and the difference is just a few % points. More important, the issue is being addressed, such as increases in food service minimum wages in NY city . More importantly and conveniently lacking from this report is that historically, it is in the latter part of economic recoveries that lower incomes see accelerated wage growth.
Let's not forget that despite the headlines, EVERY segment of wage earners has seen real wage declines. Those pre the facts, followed by a lot less facts and large assumptions.
In the end, everyone has seen real wages decline and the difference is just a few % points. More important, the issue is being addressed, such as increases in food service minimum wages in NY city . More importantly and conveniently lacking from this report is that historically, it is in the latter part of economic recoveries that lower incomes see accelerated wage growth.
Let's not forget that despite the headlines, EVERY segment of wage earners has seen real wage declines. Those pre the facts, followed by a lot less facts and large assumptions.
3
Maybe every segment of wage earners are seeing wage declines, but I would think that losing 5% of a $150,000 wage doesn't hurt as much as losing 5% of a $15,000 wage.
4
This article is very confusing or should I say misleading. The economy is NOT improving. The unemployment poll does not take into account those people who are no longer actively looking for work and are, dare I say it, still unemployed. The jobs being filled are in the public sector (taxpayer funded) and interest rates are still at 0. The training wheels are no where near coming off during the rest of Obama's term.
There are more people are out of work then ever before in our nation's history and we are still spending 80 billion plus each month buying bonds.
There is a reason people are out of work and not seeing wage increases... The economy is not doing well. I remember when the NYT actually reported news and not carried Obama's water.
There are more people are out of work then ever before in our nation's history and we are still spending 80 billion plus each month buying bonds.
There is a reason people are out of work and not seeing wage increases... The economy is not doing well. I remember when the NYT actually reported news and not carried Obama's water.
15
If these workers really care about sharing the benefits of their improved productivity and bettering themselves and their families economically, they should stop voting for the Republicans ranting about abortion, same sex marriage, and rapists from Mexico, and vote only for Democratic candidates for federal and state office!
3
I find the results of this "Study" by an advocacy group who obviously have an agenda very difficult to believe given the tightening of the labor market and rises in minimum wages that are occurring in many states.
3
It's because they are talking about 'real' wages, so your point is valid to a degree. The methodology of the study isn't detailed, but my guess is they have used current wage levels and calculated it against the inflation factor. If costs rise and the wage stays the same the price of goods to a lower income earner increases at a greater percentage than it does for higher earners or those who receive cost of living adjustments. You could think of cost increases on lower income workers in the same way as a regressive tax, i.e., one that has greater financial impact on a lower earner than a higher. Sales taxes are considered to be regressive because they are effectively a greater percentage of gross income for a lower income person than a higher one because the percentage take is static, they're left with less after tax income than the higher income earner. That's also the argument against flat tax rates for income tax. Same concepts here, different application is all.
1
Or: when facts contradict my beliefs I will find a way to ignore those facts and not provide research evidence for my belief. In nut shell I'm going to believe what i want to believe . You may want to research a thing called the backfire effect
2
It's also what portion of the labor force affected by these raises and and the dates of the study.
2
Raising the minimum wage, as some have suggested, would merely cause employers to automate and hire more high-skilled workers. Those with low skills would end up with no job at all.
14
@Jonathan
So how do you automate cleaning hotel rooms or providing in home care to the elderly? Instead of just parroting Republican party dogma you need to face reality which is that employers do not automate, lay off people, or hire more highly skilled burger flippers, they just pass on the cost to consumers. This has inflationary implications but it has little effect on the labor market.
So how do you automate cleaning hotel rooms or providing in home care to the elderly? Instead of just parroting Republican party dogma you need to face reality which is that employers do not automate, lay off people, or hire more highly skilled burger flippers, they just pass on the cost to consumers. This has inflationary implications but it has little effect on the labor market.
24
Pure speculation. Besides, how is home health care or food service automated? Alternatives include free medical, dental, and eye insurance, paid 4 week vacation, paid sick leave, double-time for over 35 hours week, etc.
Give workers increased wages. That is not speculative.
Give workers increased wages. That is not speculative.
2
And your answer is? Let me guess: tax cuts at the top end to stimulate more low wage employment.
2
Are we allowed to mention that there are millions of people here illegally, clustered in low-paying jobs? And that when people are willing to work for little, that gives employers enormous leverage to continue to pay low wages?
74
Someone is finally connecting the dots.....
6
Are we allowed to mention that somebody gives them those jobs? Could we talk about penalizing the owners and CEOs--not underlings--of the agricultural, meat-packing, restaurants and construction contraction companies--who hire undocumented workers? There is a great deal of Christian concern for business, none for people who are poor and desperate.
8
We should be able to discuss this. Employers take advantage of undocumented immigrants and none of our labor laws are enforced, including the minimum wage. This brings down wages for all.
14
American feudalism at its finest.
The refusal of American businesses to pay its employees a fair wage for a day's work is quite stunning.
Time for government to step in and increase minimum wages across the board which will then increase all wage levels which will then increase economic demand in spite of any subsequent price increases in a virtuous economic cycle.
The economic violence of the ownership class against the working class needs to stop.
The refusal of American businesses to pay its employees a fair wage for a day's work is quite stunning.
Time for government to step in and increase minimum wages across the board which will then increase all wage levels which will then increase economic demand in spite of any subsequent price increases in a virtuous economic cycle.
The economic violence of the ownership class against the working class needs to stop.
111
"Time for government to step in..." sorry perhaps it is actually time for government to step aside stop medaling in the economy since they have been doing little or nothing ......
Your statement makes it sound like the government has been on the sidelines watching as the private sector runs the show.... but it is the government and unions intervention stifling progress....
Prime example is Uber, a service that seems to be working well hiring people as contractors to work when they want but now government on both the federal and city level as well as unions are attempting to stop progress...
Your statement makes it sound like the government has been on the sidelines watching as the private sector runs the show.... but it is the government and unions intervention stifling progress....
Prime example is Uber, a service that seems to be working well hiring people as contractors to work when they want but now government on both the federal and city level as well as unions are attempting to stop progress...
1
Elitist ignorance at it's finest....
Myopic point of view , which Socrates' rhetorical argument was much more well suited for a time prior to the "Industrial Revolution"..... just another "Stagnate" solution that may only receive a lot of "kudos" or NY Times reader recommendations, but nothing more...
3
The recipe to tear this society apart, more wealth for the haves, less for the have not.
Unfettered capitalism gone wild and to this extreme this country leads the pack in the western hemisphere.
What was the multiplier for pay for the CEO compared to a worker, 400....?
Unfettered capitalism gone wild and to this extreme this country leads the pack in the western hemisphere.
What was the multiplier for pay for the CEO compared to a worker, 400....?
59
So what since that statistic is very misleading...If you take all the wealth from the richest people in the US and distribute equally to the US population, which can only be a one time infusion of money, it only is around $13,0000 per person... So that is not much and again a one time infusion, however in reality that would be much less since most wealth is not liquid, so for argument sake and being generous, let's say the wealthiest people's assets are 50 % liquid, so that would only be a one time infusion of $6,500 per person....
2
Want to know where the money went--review spending for Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, colleges and universities, U.S. Dept. of Education, public schools, criminal/civil "justice" system, social security: Nearly all paid by the middle class. Contrast amounts of spending in 1980 for these categories vs. amounts of spending today. Good or bad, I am not arguing now, but you cannot talk about money going to the 1$ without acknowledging the vast sums now allocated (mainly by government) to these categories.
1
Unfettered capitalism? Roughly 1/3 of all economic activity in the US is the gov't taking money from some people to spend or give it elsewhere. Even within the private economy, federal regulations increase by some 80K pages per year. If you're a big enough company, no matter what you do or how bad you are, the gov't will come bail you out and keep you going. That's hardly unfettered.
Do we need more evidence that the minimum wage should be raised to $15/hour?
71
Clearly the evidence shows that if you raise the cost of labor, businesses will be further motivated to import cheaper immigrant labor (legally or illegally).
4
The bottom rung of the ladder is the bottom rung of the ladder not matter what the wage is.
3
No one is bold enough to expand....except for silicon valley companies that have not yet gone public. The rest of us are Serfs.