Job Gap Series

Guest Columnist

contributed by NWFCO

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 Economy | Permalink | View Comments