1. Low-wage work Morgan Jones, Kelsey Huang, Natalie Hubert, Andrew Stafford

2. Definition and Characteristics ●A job paying less than two thirds the median wage or ●A full time, year round worker earns less than the poverty threshold for a family of four o in 2007 1 in 3 jobs were considered low-wage ●Generally o low skill o less hours or non-standard hours o lack of benefits offered o little opportunity for advancement o requiring few credentials and limited education o at risk for poverty

5. Reasons for Low-Wage Work ●Involuntary Part-Time o Workers who prefer full time employment  cut labor costs  accounts for most of part-time growth since 1969  scheduling flexibility (employer perspective) o Part time workers made 58% of full timers in 1989 o Shift from manufacturing to service jobs  low wage, low skill, high turnover o Deunionization

6. Involuntary Part-Time

8. Significance ●Driving Income inequality ●Disconnect between pay and productivity

9. What we know ●Increase in the federal Minimum wage from $5.15 in 2006 to $7.25 in 2009 ●Nearly 41% increase in the minimum wage in 2009 ●In 2009 the federal minimum wage is suggested to be 7.8% less than its value in 1967 ●In 2011 the minimum wage was calculated to be 37% of what an average worker earned per hour ●This is a major factor in the rising inequality in the United States

10. Possible Solutions ●Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2017 ●Tax penalties for companies who have low wage workers

11. Rising Inequality

15. Raising the Minimum Wage ●Provide a boost in income to low-wage with small increase to $10.10 by 2017 ●A moderate increase to the minimum wage o About 17 million workers would receive a wage boost  About 8 million children are in families that would be affected o Mostly Adults would be affected  84% over the age of 20  47% over the age of 30

16. Research on Raising the Minimum Wage ●Hasn’t been raised in over 5 years ●Mens average wage has decreased over the last thirty years ●Small to moderate increases to the minimum wage o Evidence points to little or no employment response o Likely has no effect on prices rising such as in 1991

18. Tax Penalty to Companies ●Employees living in poverty o better pay/benefits or tax o pay for government coverage

19. Young’s Research -Young, Alford. 2008. “The Work-Family Divide for Low-Income African Americans.” - Work/family conflict has even worse effect on low-income families (4 different African Americans discussed in the book) - jobs only for fulfilling basic needs and interest of family members;

20. Research *Henly, Julia R. and Susan Lambert. 2005. “Nonstandard Work and Child-Care Needs of Low-Income Parents.” ●Low income workers often experience volatile and non standard scheduling challenges ○ Low- skilled jobs have non standard features ○ About half of low-wage hourly workers have nonstandard schedule ●Child care issues ○Parents with fluctuating or nontraditional job schedules have difficulty accessing licensed child care ○Nonstandard schedules impact children's behaviors, educational outcomes, parent-child interaction.

21. Thank you for your time and consideration On low-wage work

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23. "Involuntary Part-time Work on the Rise." Issues in Labor Statistics (2008): 1-4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dec. 2008. Web. 26 Feb. 2015. Lawrence Mishel, “ Union, inequality, and faltering middle-class wages,” Economic Policy Institute, August 29, 2009 http://www.epi.org/publication/ib342-unions-inequality-faltering-middle-class/ Pager, Devah, Bruce Western, and Bart Bonikowski. 2009. “Discrimination in a Low-Wage Labor Market: A Field Experiment”, American Sociological Review 74: 777-99. Richard C. Kearney, Labor Relations in the Public Sector ( New York, New York: CRC Press, 2009), 14Josh Bivens., Elise Gould., JoshJosh BivensElise Gould Josh Tilly, Chris. "Reasons for the Continuing Growth of Part-Time Employment." Monthly Labor Review (1991): 10-18. HeinOnline. Web. 25 Feb. 201 Lambert, Susan, and Julia Henly. "Nonstandard Work and Child-Care Needs of Low-Income Parents." (2005): n. pag. Print.