NWFCO

Job Gap Series

Yesterday, NWFCO released the latest installment of our job gap series. This
one focuses on racial inequities in wages. Hold on to your hat: it turns
out that living wage jobs are hard to come by overall, and they’re much
scarcer still for people of color.

For some, though, this does not come as a shock, the numbers are a real
reminder of how much work we have to do – and it’s helpful to have the
figures to show to the doubtful in our diverse efforts.

One example from the report: in Washington state, 64 percent of African
American workers and 69 percent of Latino workers earn less than a living
wage for a single adult with a child, compared to 43 percent of white
workers. That’s a pretty significant difference.

For others, though, the numbers may not be enough. Here’s one response we
got to our study, from a reporter: “I definitely understand (and am living
with) lower wages than the cost of living, but I am very disgusted that this
is made out to be a race issue. How are we ever going to get away from
discrimination when people keep thinking they are special because of their
color?”

How, indeed?

But I guess it’s hard to see the figures clearly when we’re colorblind.

Read The Race for Wages: Living Wage Jobs in the Current Economy

Posted at 1:19 AM, Dec 20, 2007 in Race & the Economy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)