Jobs That Pay Less Than $15 An Hour Are Replacing Higher Wage Work

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/12/12/3053511/wage-jobs-recession/

A growing share of the country’s jobs pay less than $15 an hour, replacing higher wage jobs, according to a new report from the Alliance for a Just Society.

The number of jobs in occupations that pay a median wage below $15 an hour grew by 3.6 million between 2009 and 2012, increasing by about 3 percent. During the same time period, the number of jobs that pay above that level fell by 4 million. There were more than 51 million jobs paying less than $15 an hour last year. Someone making $15 an hour working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year will make $31,200, while experts say a two-income family with two kids needs $72,000 a year to be economically secure.

The report also notes that there is a huge number of people vying for the jobs that pay better. It calculates that there were seven job seekers for every projected job opening that paid above $15 an hour in 2012 and 17.9 million more job hunters than higher wage jobs.

The report is the latest to find that low-wage work has grown in the post-recovery economy at the expense of better paid jobs. Since the end of the recession, most of the jobs added have paid less than $13.83 an hour, while middle class jobs have dropped off. One in four American workers is expected to be in low-wage work over the next decade.