The NALS indicated a very strong relationship between low skilled workers and low wages. These statistics show that achieving a moderate to high level of functional literacy is crucial for an individual to escape low wage jobs. Approximately 65% of workers who took the NALS scored at level 3, the middle category, or higher. Of this 65%, only 3.5% of men and 6.5% of women earn low wages or live with a low income family (Lerman). The individuals who score low on the test will most likely never overcome low wage jobs unless they try to acquire more advanced skill sets. Several different options that are available to help low wage workers. The Center on Wisconsin Strategy in Dane County, Wisconsin has previously been successful. For example, …show more content…
Americans are not wrong in thinking that increasing the minimum wage will increase low-wage working families’ incomes, and some of these families will rise above the national poverty threshold. While increasing the minimum wage might benefit some American families, it will hurt others. Increasing the minimum wage will eliminate many low wage jobs, which would then result in many people jobless and therefore, a substantial drop in those individuals’ household incomes (“The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income”). . “Raising the country’s minimum wage could boost the incomes of millions of Americans, but it could also potentially cut total employment by hundreds of thousands of workers” (Kurtzleben). An increase in the minimum wage lowers employment, which makes it harder for these workers with minimal skills to find a job. Congress then explains that low income families will actually not bring in any benefits from an increase of the minimum wage (“Would an Increase in the Federal Minimum Wage Help or Hinder Small Business” 2-3). While increasing the minimum wage might raise the standards of living for some low wage workers and families, if the increase in minimum wage reduces employment rates, there is no certain answer on what …show more content…
If the government could provide more programs for individuals to go through to improve their skill sets to a more advanced level, these people would appeal more to the workforce. Although there are already programs to help these people acquire greater skills, there aren’t enough programs available for the number of people who could use the training. However, the already available programs have proven to be very successful. This could help Americans with the potential to overcome poverty, surpass the low wage jobs that they are currently
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Show MoreMore than 4.6 million people live in poverty in the US. A question often raised when talking about minimum wage is, would raising it lower this number? The consensus is, yes, it would. If the federal minimum wage was raised, at lot of peoples’ incomes would grow, not just low wage workers. As employers shifted their pay scales upward, many incomes would grow. According to Jared Bernstein, the former chief economist of the Obama Administration, this isn’t as relevant as the impact is would have on low wage workers. He explains how, although many other people would benefit from an increase in minimum wage, most of the help would go to those who need it. He also notes, “We must be careful not to be wedded to poverty thresholds that are inadequate measures of who needs the help.” If the minimum wage was raised to $10.10 per hour, 2 million people would be lifted out of poverty (US Department of
Job training programs that teach soft skills as well as hard skills and are successful in instilling confidence and self-esteem are appreciated by employers. Working seems to instill in former drug addicts or welfare recipients a sense of competence, pride, and hope for the future. Shipler states that “work works” when other factors and circumstances, a family with multiple wage earners, a sense of competition, job-finding skills, money management skills, and persistence, fall into place. Drug or alcohol abuse, domestic violence, poor schooling, illness, or injury can seriously destroy the chance for upward social mobility. Kathy A. Zawicki believes that “those who Shipler identifies as desperately poor, lacking necessary medical care, and struggling to meet basic daily living expenses are those who are not only working, but, in many cases, working the equivalent of full-time jobs.”
In this article, James Dorn and David Cooper argue whether raising the federal minimum wage will help or hurt low-wage workers. James Dorn, Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Cato Institute, argues that raising the federal minimum wage would hurt low-wage workers by reducing job opportunities and raising prices. Dorn also states that the federal minimum wage is responsible for high unemployment among teenagers and minorities and lower productivity among low-wage workers. David Cooper, an analyst from the Economic Policy Institute, argues that the federal minimum wage is not a living wage and that raising the minimum wage doesn’t have a significant effect on employment. Cooper also states that eighty percent of low-wage workers are at least twenty years old and that eighty-five percent of small businesses already pay their employees more than the minimum
Morosely, people hitting poverty level are truly given zero opportunities to advance their education. In America, it 's not common that the A+ education is given to you. It 's not entirely easy to land the greatest job ever with just a high school diploma. But, the cost of college has made the difference between having a job that pays well, and having a job that pays immensely for people living in poverty. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. The cost of living per month for a single, childless person in America is $2,372. Galbraith stresses importance of improving housing across the nation.(Galbraith 405) With unemployment rates remaining high, jobs are hard to find in the current economy. Even if people can find work, this does not automatically provide an escape from
Dana Goldstein a journalist from The Nation says that, “47 million American jobs are expected to be created between now and 2018, and about two-thirds will require some sort of education beyond high school.” In making this comment, Goldstein is showing us that the only way to be prosperous in the future is to educate our children. Goldstein goes on to say that, “27 percent of workers with occupational licenses earn more than the average recipient of a bachelor’s degree.” In other words, Goldstein is trying to tell us that a bachelor 's degree isn 't the only way to go and that we need to increase funding for vocational schools and community
According to Shipler, the working poor need remedies to improve their circumstances. Throughout his novel, Shipler addressed potential solutions that seemed to adjust the lives of the working poor. To help combat low self-esteem and competence more programs should be created by the state or local communities that could be created to assist the working poor in getting their GEDs, personal hygiene if necessary, learning skills that are necessary for job training, balancing daily personal finances, and learning how to eat healthier on a limited income. The more confidence an individual has the more likely they will be outgoing or assertive and will be more willing to apply for jobs. Applying jobs is intimidating for a college graduate who has
Any number of vocational education programs have been targeted to solve the education and employment problems of the nations high-risk populations--the dropout prone, persons with disabilities, educationally and economically disadvantaged persons, and so forth. Some have realized successful outcomes; others have not. This publication examines vocational educations role in the success of high-risk populations.
Most immigrants are not admitted to high paying jobs because they do not possess the education or skill level that are in demand in the labor force. Nearly 31 percent of foreign-born residents over the age of 25 are without a high school diploma, compared to just 10 percent of native-born citizens (Report by Greenhaven Press). This is considered an understatement because with the struggling economy in the United States and unemployment rates at a high, a bachelors or masters degree is a
America is currently working on the issue of whether the minimum wage should be increased from $7.25 to $10.10 and economists are studying the effects of the possible increase. Minimum wage workers deal with struggles such as affording health care, paying for education, providing food for their families, putting many hours of work in while making little income and paying their bills. America’s decision to raise the minimum wage would help low wage workers to make higher incomes and would overall strengthen the economy, pulling Americans out of poverty. Americans may hold a minimum wage job if they do not have money to attend a college or university to obtain a degree in order to find a career.
72.9 million Americans aged 16 and above were working hourly wages in the year 2010. The United States as the leader of the modern age should take action to increase the wealth of the minimum wage worker. The United States, is one of the economic superpowers of the world, and yet 58.8% of the workers in the United States are paid hourly.
The educational and skill levels of welfare recipients as a group are lower than that of the general adult population. For example, compared to 27 percent of the general adult population, nearly 50 percent of welfare recipients do not have a high school diploma (NIFL 1994). Also, 30 percent of welfare recipients have basic skills below those of the minimum skill level of all women in the lowest occupational skill areas (Cohen et al. 1994). Thus, to the architects of the FSA, a logical avenue for assisting welfare recipients in achieving economic self-sufficiency was to provide those who needed it adult basic and literacy education services through JOBS. The need for this assistance has subsequently been supported: an estimated two-thirds of JOBS enrollees require basic skills enhancement before they are able to enter the work force (ibid.). The other third are placed in employment more immediately, either in the private secto...
Carnevale, (2010), stated that “at least sixty three percent of Americans more than forty six jobs will required some college education.” This analysis stated that if the current education to employment system remains unchanged by 2018 the United States will fall short by three million post-secondary degree. Of the twenty two million college degree in the workforce. In addition American workforce will need 4.7 million new postsecondary career certificates. The diversity issues can include the gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, lack of skills, lack of proper education, and disability. Understanding that the more adult the person is, the harder will be to find a job position that could match their experience or education level if they had one. Providing them with new skills hands on at their comprehend level it might facilitate their possibilities of a new career. Likewise, it will be individual’s that might retire soon due to their advance
Several individuals are forced to work at a fast food restaurant since a majority decent paying jobs will not accept employees who do not possess a four-year college education in the required field. The feeling of being rejected an occupation that an individual would prefer would be devastating. It’s extremely difficult to attend school if an individual doesn’t have the required resources needed to attend a two or four-year college or university. Therefore, people settle or resort to the only company that is willing to hire them since they don’t have the required qualifications needed for a better-paying company. Unfortunately, for those individuals that usually means they will be working at a fast food restaurant, a local gas station, or a department/convenient store.
Most people can find a job in their field, but the amount of people who can not find a job in their field is increasing. “Unequal outcomes from college have always been a fact of life, but there is evidence that the dispersion of outcomes has increased” (Haltom). If a person ha a lower income job, it is not always because they did not have a college education. “1 percent of taxi drivers and roughly 3 percent of bank tellers had a college degree” (Haltom). This shows that even though some people have a college education, they could not find jobs in their field and had to take jobs that they less likely wanted. Haltom also says, “as many as 120,000 of the nations 1.7 million 2012 graduates who wanted to work elsewhere took jobs as waiters, salespeople, cashiers, and the like” (Haltom). More and more people with a college education can not find jobs in their field.
Unfortunately, there are many Americans out of work in today’s current declining economy. Unemployment can be defined as a person who is out of work involuntary, not by choice. These people are looking jobs and available to start work. Being unemployed can be disheartening and deciding what the next step is can be challenging. Underemployed can be described as being inadequately employed, such as a low-paying job that requires fewer skills than one possess. (Daly, Hobijn, and Kwok 2015) Making ends meet can be difficult for one who has been affected by this economy over the past few years. America still has a high unemployment rate since the decline of the current job market. And many Americans are struggling to establish the skills needed for employment, or the underemployed are force to lower they skill to make a profit. America’s economic status has force the underemployed and unemployed to make ends meet with the current jobs available. And last but not least some have also utilized these difficult times to venture into new discoveries to make life hassle free. So, we wonder is Americans giving up in today’s economy or do they settle for lower end job to establish a steady income to make ends.