What really bugs me about this Bush crew is that things are going to get
far worse for those most at risk before they have done their worst! I
have seen too much death and destruction of good people by such evils
during my (privileged) lifetime. EAK
The Working Poor
================
by Linda Ostreicher
GothamGazette.com
November, 2004
Last year, about one in three low-wage full-time
workers in this city experienced one of more of these
hardships:
* their gas, phone, or electricity was turned off
because they couldn’t pay the bills;
* they used a food bank or pantry to avoid going
hungry;
* they couldn’t pay the rent;
* or a prescription cost too much for them to fill
it.
In "The Unheard Third: Bringing the Voices of Low-
Income New Yorkers to the Policy Debate," the Community
Service Society and the United Way of New York City
document the street-level effects of New York’s
inadequate minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. Many of the
working poor saw their wages or tips go down last year,
had their hours cut back, or lost their jobs entirely.
Statewide, over 88 percent of families supported by
low-wage workers are headed by at least one adult over
the age of 25; the minimum wage is not limited to
teenage workers.
Those earning the least also receive the fewest
employment benefits, which are taken for granted by
higher-paid workers. Nearly two-thirds of low-wage
workers reported having no paid vacation days or sick
days. Almost half had no health coverage, with the
majority lacking prescription coverage for themselves
and/or health coverage for family members. The working
poor have no need of financial advisors: Only one-third
are offered a pension or 401(k) retirement plan, and
most have less than $500 in savings.
There is little margin for emergency needs here. A
parent who misses work to care for a sick child loses
money every day and risks being fired. A few extra
dollars a month for subway fare, or a four percent rent
increase, means the family must do without another
essential item.
Food Stamps Are Back in Favor
Under the Giuliani administration, food stamps were
considered a form of welfare, and the city sought to
"wean" working recipients from them. The Bloomberg
administration has indicated more willingness to extend
food benefits.
The city’s Human Resources Administration is
collaborating with a food stamp outreach initiative of
the Community Food Resource Center, with participation
by Pathmark Supermarkets. The center will post
advocates at supermarkets to educate shoppers about
food stamps, screen them for eligibility, and help them
fill out applications.
Little Help from Education and Job Training
While federal job training programs have a good record
of helping graduates find and keep jobs, they are not
reaching those New Yorkers who need them most.
Statewide, less than one-third of 1% of adult high-
school dropouts complete job training programs.
The city’s Local Law 23 mandated access to job training
and education for welfare recipients, but the Bloomberg
administration has not implemented the law, nor has it
complied with a 2003 court order to provide a list of
approved training programs to welfare recipients
interested in enrolling. Nearly 80% of welfare
recipients didn’t know that there were educational
programs open to them, according to a survey by the
Urban Justice Center and Families United for Racial and
Economic Justice. For every two respondents who
attended school last year, another seven were
interested in doing so, but did not.
One unemployed woman had enrolled full-time in college
before becoming eligible for welfare. She reported that
a welfare worker told her that she would have to give
up school in order to meet the work requirement. This
was a direct violation of the city’s obligation to make
a reasonable effort to accommodate the class schedule
of a recipient enrolled in school.
Over 300 welfare beneficiaries were surveyed for the
report, at ten of the city’s Job Centers. Such a survey
would be more difficult today, now that an appeals
court has upheld the city’s ban on the presence of
advocates in job centers, unless they are on "official
business," as defined by the Human Resources
Administration. [See "A Ban On Welfare Advocates At
Welfare Centers," by Emily Jane Goodman, Gotham
Gazette, September, 2004.]
Better Days Are Not Ahead for the Working Poor
Currently, the working poor have limited opportunities
to climb out of poverty, according to Between Hope and
Hard Times: New York’s Working Families In Economic
Distress (In PDF Format) , by the Center for an Urban
Future and the Schuyler Center for Analysis and
Advocacy.
The authors found that even before the recent
recession, median household income dropped in all four
outer boroughs during the 1990s. While the United
States as a whole saw a slight drop -- 1.3 percent --
in the number of low-income households during that
decade, New York State had an increase of 2.7 percent
in its number of low-income households.
The hardships faced by low-income households are
increased by New York City being one of the two most
expensive places to live in the country. The cost for
just three commodities--education, housing, and child
care--illustrates the difficulty of working your way
out of poverty.
A community college degree adds an average of $7,000 to
a worker’s annual income, but tuition increases keep
moving education further out of reach. New York City
community colleges raised tuition to $2,800 a year in
2003. Students who work and go to school part-time
aren’t eligible for the major source of financial aid:
the Tuition Assistance Program.
Planned Shrinkage of Housing for the Poor
New York City’s permanent housing emergency continues
to grow worse. Large new public housing projects are no
longer being built. Poor tenants have come to
increasing rely on Section 8, a federal program of
vouchers that pay part of the rent, but there is a long
waiting list for the program, and a likelihood that its
funding will be cut next year. (See Affordable Housing
in 2004 by Joe Lamport)
Inadequate Child Care
The city provides child care subsidies for 105,000
children; it is estimated that another 100,000 are
eligible, but not receiving a subsidy. Low-income
parents usually turn to unregulated care, such as
leaving children with a relative or neighbor. Even
among families using subsidized day care, 38,000
children are in unregulated care. Unregulated settings
rarely offer the learning activities provided in more
formal child care settings, so children entering school
from unregulated day care start out with a
disadvantage.
Work Supports as a Subsidy to Employers
Housing vouchers, child care subsidies, food stamps,
and publicly funded health coverage can be seen as
subsidies that benefit employers by allowing them to
hire workers at salaries too low to live on. If
government chooses to use tax dollars to help
employers, there should be some criteria for this
assistance. Perhaps businesses could be required to pay
a living wage, with essential fringe benefits, unless
they passed a means test based on their profit margin
or on the salary of the highest-paid executive.
---------------------------------------------------
Linda Ostreicher, a former budget analyst for the New
York City Council, is a freelance writer and consultant
to nonprofits.
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/socialservices/20041118/15/1183
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