10 startling facts about low-wage workers

<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Low-wage workers are rising up against their corporate bosses nationwide in an effort to increase their appalling wages and improve workplace protections by organizing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some that’s meant walking out on their jobs on a one-day strike, while others have joined them on the picket line to protest.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFdvMq6sS7Om2igYBfpKzBUWCwJpqBhR7_WYyhul1n-CWMzv_7IQWoKcFGsq0cRG_sotnoN8TTrKcS7_CXsWthAffeuCxn9Ft74DkQymlH8q5aFRMmDfo9KoN7pjQbN1x2SKnlxoEhGkm/s1600/7-31lowwagerally1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFdvMq6sS7Om2igYBfpKzBUWCwJpqBhR7_WYyhul1n-CWMzv_7IQWoKcFGsq0cRG_sotnoN8TTrKcS7_CXsWthAffeuCxn9Ft74DkQymlH8q5aFRMmDfo9KoN7pjQbN1x2SKnlxoEhGkm/s320/7-31lowwagerally1.jpg" title="Workers at a Chicago McDonald's walked off the job to protest low pay and a lack of benefits." width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workers protest at a Chicago McDonald's last week.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No matter what form the action takes, there are many good reasons why this is happening now. While the U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>unemployment rate has dropped in the past few years, </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/01/low-wage-workers-recovery_n_3685091.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the new jobs created are falling far short of the ones they are replacing</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> when it comes to pay and benefits. That means many low-wage jobs, such as in the fast food and retail industries, are now being filled by adults who have families to feed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Here are 10 little-known facts that show who is working low-wage jobs and what they have experienced in recent years:</span><br /><ol><li><a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/slow-progress-for-fast-food-workers" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">39.3 percent of fast-food workers are 25 or older</a></li><li>31.4 percent of fast-food workers aged 20 and over have at least some college experience;</li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">26.6 percent of fast-food workers are parents;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">83.6 percent of fast-food workers make $10.09 an hour or less;</span></li><li><a href="http://www.nelp.org/page/-/Reports/NELP-Taking-Low-Road-Federal-Contracting.pdf?nocdn=1"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">74 percent of those in federal contract jobs</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (which includes port truckers, janitors, fast food and retail workers) make less than $10 an hour;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/worker-wage_n_3610530.html?utm_hp_ref=business"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">average U.S. worker with one child needs to earn $14.17 an hour</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to achieve economic security;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Workers </span><a href="http://www.alternet.org/recession-forever-10-reasons-american-workers-are-screwed"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">making between $10.61 and $14.21 per hour saw their real wages drop</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> on average by 4.5 percent between 2009 and 2012;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The median U.S. income has fallen 8.1 percent since 2007;</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Involuntary part-timers have almost doubled in the past five years, to 8.2 million;</span></li><li><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Exclusive-4-in-5-in-US-face-near-poverty-no-work-4691668.php#page-2">12.6 percent of adults aged 25 to 60 live in poverty</a></span></li></ol><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don’t expect worker-led efforts to raise awareness to end anytime soon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>It’s going to continue to be a long, hot summer for corporations that pay poverty wages.</span></div>

low wage workers 10 startling facts about low-wage workers

Low-wage workers are rising up against their corporate bosses nationwide in an effort to increase their appalling wages and improve workplac...

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