----- Original Message ----- From: <RangerCat67 at aol.com> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 9:02 AM Subject: The Employment Policy Foundation and low-wage work
> I have the queasy feeling that this particular e-mail violates the
> injunctions against stupidity and prolixity, and for that I'm terribly
sorry,
> but here it is:
> My posting concerns the composition of the workforce earning between
> $5.15 and $7.15 an hour. According to researchers with the "nonpartisan"
> Employment Policy Foundation, very few low-wage workers are single adults
> with one or more children to support. This seems dubious to me, but this
is
> what they insist:
Hell, it's quite hard to feed a family on $10 an hour.
-- Luke
> "Living wage activists ignore the diversity of circumstances, needs and
> preferences of low wage earners. Only one-in-fourteen (7 percent) of
> individuals who earn between $5.15 and $7.15 are single parents. More than
> half (50.7 percent are unmarried and never been a parent. Nearly one-third
> (28.5 percent) are high school or college students.
>
> Employees who earn between $5.15 and $7.15 an hour are overwhelmingly
young
> and most do not live in poor households. One half of individuals who earn
> $286 or less a week ($7.15 for 40 hours of work) live in households with
> annual incomes over $42,671. Only one-in-four (27.2 percent) live in
> households that earn less than $25,000. Only 22.6 percent are the head of
a
> household with at least one other relative present. Four in 10 (42.4
percent)
> are children or other relatives of a head of household. Contrary to what
> living wage proponents say, low wage workers are generally not a
household's
> sole supporter."
>
> The EPF's data was taken from the "March 2001 outgoing rotation
subset
> of the Current Population Survey". Is this a valid standard of
measurement?
> So, out of twelve million low-wage workers, only 840,000 or so are single
> parents? That still adds up to millions of children dependent on this
meager
> income, but it still doesn't sound right, and any assistance at all would
be
> very warmly appreciated.