Job Seeker Blog - Spark Hire

Are We Stuck in Low Salary Jobs?

We all know we’re worth more than our wages and bosses give us. So why do we stay at the jobs we don’t like for less money than we think we deserve? Even when the job market wasn’t so bleak and the economy wasn’t that bad many of us were still stuck in a job we hated and were getting paid pennies to do. Well unfortunately, that job might be the best job out there right now. You may not be getting paid what you’re worth, but it’s better than unemployment.

A study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute concluded that 28 percent of workers are expected to maintain low-paying jobs in 2020, roughly the same as in 2010. Meaning, no matter what we do, these frivolous jobs are still going to be popular 10 years from now. The study defines low-paying jobs as full-time employees making around $11.06 an hour with a family of four. Being single making $11 an hour seems hard enough, let alone raising a family with it. Unfortunately, the economy is not showing enough growth in jobs that have higher salaries, leaving the low-paying jobs at an influx.

In fact, it’s most of the low-wage jobs that are hiking up the unemployment rate each quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2011, low-wage jobs grew 3.2 percent. So even though jobs are being created you have to ask yourself what kinds of jobs are they?

Low salary jobs are some of this country’s leading markets for the future. Jobs such as farming, personal care, maintenance and health care support (where 45 percent of these employees earn at or below poverty wage) are all expected to see a huge growth within the next years.

Insurance, or lack thereof, is another issue with low-paying jobs. In turn, low-paying jobs accompanied with minimal benefits do a real detriment to the economy. Considering two-thirds of our economy relies on economic spending, people are simply not making enough to spend. Even college students graduating into minimal paying jobs are paying off their school debt and having even less money to spend. Have we really come to a time where a college graduate is going to look forward to graduating and making $11 an hour? If this is so, a college degree will rapidly become unpopular and even obsolete.

Again, during our economic state, a job is a job and money needs to be made. That is why we constantly see Americans expecting these low-wage jobs; there simply is no other choice.

Are you stuck in a low-wage job and feel as though there are no other options? Are you a college graduate? Tell us about it in the comments section below!

SOURCE:
CNN Money
IMAGE: Courtesy of Bukisa

Chris Officer

Add comment