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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumscollege educated guy works 60hrs, 4 jobs, makes 20k/year - what his life looks like:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/12/news/economy/4-low-wage-part-time-jobs/index.html?hpt=hp_t5Bobby Bingham works four jobs in Kansas City, Missouri, yet he has very little to show for it.
Bingham is 37 years old and has a college degree, but like many Americans, is stuck working many hours in low wage, part-time jobs.
Each week, he works a total of about 60 hours in his jobs as a massage therapist, a waiter at a Mexican restaurant, a delivery man for sandwich chain Jimmy John's and a receptionist at his massage school.
He brings home about $400 a week, or $20,000 per year, and has joined the nationwide movement of fast food protests fighting for higher wages.
"I've come to the point in my life where I wonder if I can ever support a family," he said. "I have no idea how that's ever going to logically happen."
Bingham's is an increasingly common story. The share of part-time workers who couldn't find full-time jobs surged during the Great Recession, more than double what it was in the preceding decade. Though their situation is improving now, more than 7.7 million Americans are still settling for part-time work, compared to about 4.1 million on average in 2006.
Here's what one week of juggling schedules and part-time paychecks looks like for Bingham:
- 24 hours waiting tables at Mexican restaurant Taco Republic. He makes tips plus $2.13, which is the federal minimum wage for tipped employees, like waiters.
-30 hours delivering sandwiches for Jimmy John's, which pays him $7.35 an hour, plus tips.
-3 one-hour massages, for a total of $60.
-9 hours as a receptionist at his former massage school. (The amount of money he makes working at the school isn't included in his $400 weekly pay, since it goes directly to repay $9,500 worth of student loans.)
------
Bingham shares a one-bedroom apartment with a roommate, has virtually no money saved and can't remember the last time he took a vacation.
This is not where Bingham thought he'd be. After struggling to make ends meet while also intermittently attending college, he finally graduated in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from University of Missouri, Kansas City. He had even higher hopes from his massage therapy degree.
"My family told me, 'just get your degree and it will be fine,'" he said. "A degree looks very nice, but I don't have a job to show for it."
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Schema Thing
(10,283 posts)
Bigredhunk
(1,602 posts)One of the people there told me that they'd have drivers go out on $300 deliveries and get $0 tips, and this is a fairly affluent area.
People are fucking tightwads. They expect everything cheap/free.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Well that was his first mistake. Why on Earth did he choose that major? It is no wonder that he can't get a regular job. His guidance counselor should be told not to recommend such a thing unless they are going to go on for a Master's in something of substance.
nolabear
(43,850 posts)And since when does a massage therapist only get $20 out of a (at the lowest end) massage? I go to a franchise regularly and I'm pretty sure it's more than that. If he could fill a few hours he could make a nice wage.
enlightenment
(8,830 posts)For the love of god, do NOT read the comments. They are stomach-churning.
Bryce Butler
(338 posts)the story was on CNN, I had a good idea what some of the comments would be like. Yahoo News is another one to stay away from.
niyad
(132,805 posts)
aikoaiko
(34,214 posts)... would struggle after earning his degree in this economy.
MrModerate
(9,753 posts)And a better-than-average education, I'd think lots of employers would want him — if they're hiring at all. Maybe he's looking in the wrong places.
niyad
(132,805 posts)MrModerate
(9,753 posts)I'm just saying that the story presents the guy as a potentially good employee, and maybe he just hasn't gotten through to the right company.
My company is hiring, for example (though not in the area of Bingham's competence) in locations in the US and overseas. I talk to our recruiters all the time, so I'm sure we're not the only ones.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)We are in an economy in which, thanks to outsourcing, importing and technology, we simply do not need as many workers as there are people looking for work.
The problems are systemic and not due to specific places or individuals.
In virtually all states, you can be fired for utterly no reason. You can be the best employee with the best skills, your employer still can fire you for no reason. And then you are stuck with the task of explaining to a prospective employer just why you are not working for your previous employer (because the employer fired you on a whim, let's say to give the job to someone more attractive or younger or related to him or because you had a lot of experience and were too expensive).
The job market has improved somewhat, but it is still pretty lousy.
Judge not that ye be not judged. That is an important lesson to learn.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)back when your company had one (just guessing, HR depts are getting the ax all over corporatopia), get through HR's screening process. This is due in large part to the tyranny of the MBA. It is the ironically irrational belief that spreadsheets are a viable substitute for human judgement and can discern value.
The entire process has turned from a quest to find good people to help the business prosper and grow, into a process of eliminating as many candidates for as many reasons as possible from consideration. The inevitable result "one strike and you're out" system is that the candidates that get through are those with nothing to disqualify them. Unfortunately and most commonly, the people that have no strikes against them are those that never take a swing and count on being walked through their career,
MrModerate
(9,753 posts)What you describe is not universal. It's certainly not the case in my company or my industry.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)There are plenty of smart, well educated people with good work ethics who can't find decent work. That's where we are.
It's a response to those who think anyone who is having trouble making ends meet isn't trying hard enough, is lazy, etc. That's not the case. There just aren't enough jobs for everyone.
xmas74
(30,063 posts)KC doesn't exactly have the best market right now. I know because I'm part of that market.
I have a friend, master's in HR, cannot find a job. She works in a tea house, supporting two children on $8 an hour. Another friend has a degree in CADD. Before the recession he made decent wages but now? Can't even find work in his field. I worked for the state until my job was eliminated and since haven't found anything that pays anywhere near what I made.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)No jobs, no progress, no hope.
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)I hate to say it, but even DU is not exactly a bastion of pro-union sentiment. What can you say when 1/2 the Democrats do not support labor...
Beaverhausen
(24,700 posts)Hope he can get that career going. It dhod help him out.
Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)Where can I get an hour massage for $20? I'm in.
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)out of the fee and the rest goes to the owner of the massage parlor owner.
Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)I hope that he can get a clientele and a massage bed of his own to start his own business. It sounds like that would be the only way to make money. I knew a man who did massage in his home and had a very good business going.
ohheckyeah
(9,314 posts)it wouldn't surprise me.
Yeah, if he could get his own clientele he could make good money.
xmas74
(30,063 posts)More than likely he has to pay for a bed, which is leaving only $20 per session in his pocket.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)Of I live in a town of about 20,000.. Massages go for $60 easy...
mike dub
(541 posts)I've paid generally $60.00 for hour long massages.
And wow- the federal minimum wage for tipped employees is just awful. That needs to change too IMHO.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)
Tunkamerica
(4,444 posts)His best bet is to get in at the closest major airport if that's possible. I had a friend who did alright doing that. But she was female which might've helped. I don't actually know if sex plays a role in the massage game.
Initech
(108,885 posts)In my most recent accounting class they took a survey of who was majoring in what. Out of a class of 38 there were 27 business majors. 3 (including me) actually majoring in accounting.
I also read somewhere that like for every 100 math, science, engineering, and accounting majors, there's like 5000 liberal arts or business or even something like media arts design.
dem in texas
(2,681 posts)I worked as an accounting officer for the Army and then jobs as CFO and chief accountant. But then I moved into software business designing financial applications. But I loved math and logic and have always like to figure out things about money. I have a daughter who is an artist, she got a degree in Art and is an unemployed dog trainer. So it goes.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)math-related fields who have great difficulty getting jobs. It's just a tough market. If a person has a liberal arts degree or even just an undergraduate degree, they may have to continue their education (and borrow the money to do it) just to get a job that pays a decent wage. It can be done, but the competition is harrowing.
This is all the result of our trade policy (pits cheap, foreign labor against ours), our tax policy (encourages the accumulation of extreme wealth by just a few people leaving the rest of us to wonder where the money went) and technology.
We used to have a wonderful textile industry. Where is it? Shipped overseas. Same for a lot of our steel. Our automobile industry is doing much better. Just this evening I heard people talking about how they bought foreign cars in the past and are now really excited about their new cars (especially Fords). So maybe we are learning from our past mistakes. But it is no help to the people who are unemployed now.
onpatrol98
(1,989 posts)Especially when finances or family concerns keep you local. I think a pretty good program would be one to help people move to where the jobs are. I always wonder how is it people can move from out of the country into the country for better jobs, but not from one part of the country to another.
We used to migrate for jobs and better wages. Now, for STEM related jobs, the migration is from out of the country, into the country.
fujiyama
(15,185 posts)where there are a few occupations in high demand and many others with little or no demand.
I'm in engineering in a part of the country that was hard very hard a few years ago. I had left for a few years and recently came back and it's very different. Home prices have shot up and there's a ton of hiring for those with the right knowledge and skills - and the wages have gone up accordingly.
Ex Lurker
(3,968 posts)He got several inquiries about the job from recent law school graduates.
goldent
(1,582 posts)This has been true for quite a while.
TxVietVet
(1,905 posts)These folks need to learn to organize for the common good. Individually, only a few will gain progress. United, they would be stronger. Greed drives Americans. That's the first thing I realized when came back after over 5 years in SE Asia.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)
rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)It needs to be remastered, subtitles added, a commentary track by John Sayles added, and info about the Matewan Massacre and the Battle of Blair Mountain added. Perhaps they could get permission from the History Channel to include its account of this amazing story (the first time I had ever heard of it). It's part of a documentary they did about Appalachia a while back.
BTW, also check out "Harlan County USA," a documentary about a bitter strike in the coal mines of eastern Kentucky in the '70's. It is considered a classic of the genre.
rosesaylavee
(12,126 posts)Thinking in Pictures that breaks the story down, provides the screenplay and generally gives the background. I think it's one of the best storylines ever and love the cast and the subject. His choice for the ending (don't want to give spoilers here) was brilliant on so many levels... it just stays with you long after you see it. I don't think it's coincidence that it doesn't show up on rerun channels too often.
1000words
(7,051 posts)If he's "bringing home" $20,000 a year, he earns around $28,000 a year.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)plus 54 hours a week of tipped work. Plus nine hours of work a week that they do not count on his income since it pays his student loans.
Even $3 an hour for tips would bring him to $493 a week for gross pay, and $3 an hour in tips seems pretty darned low.
But because they said "bringing home" I am thinking that is take home pay rather than gross pay. Which to me is a little bit deceptive.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Us poor fools who make less than $ 30K a year.
Reason for that is the tax code has not been re-examined in terms of living costs.
Back in the seventies, 30K a year was good money. A person making that amount could buy a home, almost anywhere in the country, and support a wife and two kids. These days, with inflation, it will get you after taxes (including Social Security of over 7.5%) a room in an apartment, if you live in a city.
Millions of people have perhaps forever lost ability to do the mortgage deduction, so that factor also is missing.
Other nations have a much more progressive tax code.
KentuckyWoman
(7,408 posts)No tips?
$20 bucks for an hour massage?
Not counting some of his income?
And a liberal arts degree? Not that a well rounded education isn't valuable for it's own sake.... Part of the conversation regarding college and the cost of it, is whether or not the degree being earned is valuable in the marketplace.
There were so many ways CNN could have added to the conversation to be had. Instead they decided to fudge some facts, ignore others, and basically (as usual) practice bad journalism.
Edit because I meant to comment on the disgraceful minimum wage for tipped employees and the ridiculous cost of college period.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)as a "bachelor's degree in liberal arts". I mean, my degree is a BA, but I had a major.
blur256
(979 posts)I know this guy! The school he works at is the piece of crap place I got fired from for trying to not gouge students. I guess they still are! And because I got fired from there, I have had trouble getting a decent paying job since. In fact, I am working 2 jobs right now, 7 days a week, and average 60 hours myself. And I feel bad for the guy! I really do, because I know how much schools like that gouge students. In fact, I remember that one of the things I think led to my getting fired is that they wanted me to arbitrarily charge a student and I wouldn't go along with it (plus they weren't fans of the whole gay thing either). Just crazy! He is a good guy and I wish all the luck in the world to him.
niyad
(132,805 posts)
Historic NY
(40,063 posts)the average here in upstate NY is at least 50-55 for an hour.
niyad
(132,805 posts)the long-established ones with impeccable reputations are having a rough go. many people see massage as a luxury, and one of the first things to go in a tight economy.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)between $80 and $120 an hour. What boosts it is that many of the better insurance policies cover therapeutic massage, and don't see it as just for injuries, or temporary. They cover at least a dozen a year as maintenance for pain management and physical toning and it works well.
My policy doesn't cover it, but I used to have one that did. Now I put out for half an hour to manage pain. They want me to come in more often, and I'd feel better, but just cannot make that payment. It's incredible that he's only getting $60 for 3 hours of massages. That's $20 a hour and that's very low.
Guess the GOP got rid of the EIC, too. He would qualify for one, I think. They don't care abour the cost to a person's mental health from this kind of
suffocating situation. And if he can only 3 jobs at massage a month, that must be a sorry area to live in, jobs wise.
GoldenOldie
(1,540 posts)Being well along Into my retirement years and extremely grateful of a protected pension, I am furious that the college graduate engineers, teachers , firemen, Family Practitioners, all highly trained and educated American citizens, are having to work 3-4 jobs to simply exist.and this is even if they can get these burger flipping slots. While there are the babbling blowhards such as Hannity, O'reilly, Limbaugh, and the ever increasing flock of blond bimbos, callings themselves journalists, who wouldn't know a fact or the truth if it bit them in the ass. Thet sit and spout the latest Corporate script not caring who they hurt or the harm they do to our Country? It isn't only the Corporate Heads that are receiving multi-million dollar salaries, but also these bloviating talking heads. I'll O'Reilly at $38.million, a failed high school history teacher , who doesn't let facts get into the way of money. While skilled journalists are ignored or work for so little and the millions of truly skilled workers have lost well paying jobs due to outsourcing for profit. Please question why corporations are unwilling to pay for teachers, firefighters, engineers, yet they pay millions to the talking heads who produce nothing for the advancement of our society.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)
shanti
(21,800 posts)A governmental job doesn't discriminate (usually), but you may have to start at the bottom. With time and other things, he could be making a decent living, so it is possible.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)
eqfan592
(5,963 posts)At least not universally. My self and a bunch of people all got into government jobs without any inside connections.
Those connections are of limited value in certain agencies.
shanti
(21,800 posts)He's a vet, with a BA in history. It's usually a pretty useless degree professionally, except when you want a governmental job, where any degree will get you a foot in the door. He started at the bottom, but with boomer retirements and attrition, it won't be long before he starts rising up in the ranks.
pnwmom
(110,278 posts)is that many of these employers demand variable schedules, so you're supposed to be constantly available at their convenience, preventing you from adding other part-time jobs.
fujiyama
(15,185 posts)It's clear he's a hard worker and he's capable of learning (hence the degree to show for it).
The recovery has been rewarding for those in the right fields (primarily health care, oil/gas, and engineering/technology), but the service industries, while also in "recovery", just don't pay anywhere near enough to survive on. And that's where a lot of liberal arts majors have been forced into.
The debt for one is staggering. You need a job of any sort to pay off crushing debt. So we have a lot of "overqualified" bartenders, servers, and others in the service industries. But another problem is that schools and universities are doing an absolutely terrible job in counseling students with their career plans and advising them about developing practical skills and bodies of knowledge.
madville
(7,847 posts)Haven't ever had a problem getting a job, the last ten years or so have ranged from 50-90k depending on the job, overtime and travel.
I'm encouraging my son to get a degree in a trade and then get some experience. If he wants to go further pursue maybe a project management bachelors and focus on the trade he has experience in.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)Trillo
(9,154 posts)Tree-Hugger
(3,379 posts)My husband works 3 jobs. Often, he works nearly 36 hours straight will about two to three hours break between shifts to catch a quick nap. Two jobs pay below $8.00 and the other is less than $9.50 (after a year and a "raise"
. This weekend saw my husband working overnight Thursday, day Friday, overnight Friday, overnight Saturday (when it was icing out - they would not allow call outs and kept their 24 hour store open), day Sunday, overnight Sunday, and he'll be going to work an hour from now. He walked to work last night as I needed the car for my kids and he fell on an ice patch flat in his back. When he got to work and told them he injured himself, they told him to make sure he clocked in on time. And he did. We don't have the choice to say, "Fuck this, I quit!" With all that my husband works, we still cannot afford rent, gas, car, utility bills, etc. Our food stamps got cut by $200.00 a month this month. We depend on charity to barely survive.
I have written about this on DU before so some are already aware of my story. Would love to write this as a blog or article somewhere, but I will be 100% honest and say I don't know if I can handle the comments. I used to be really strong and feisty, but I am so emotionally exhausted that I don't know if I can handle typical cold-hearted teabagger "feedback."
Full disclosure, I have not read the above article. The link wouldn't work for me.
Also, I know a few massage therapists who have been in business for many years. They state they used to bring in a lot, but times are tough for everyone and a lot of people can't afford the luxury. There are also many shopping mall/strip mall massage chains popping up that lure people with much lower process than a spa or personal masseuse.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)This guys poor planning should NOT be our model example of someone struggling to make ends meet. It sounds like he jumped on whatever degree he thought would be fun, without taking into consideration that it takes a lot of work to be successful...probably even more work than a degree with an actual skill set.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)More RW drivel (or is it authentic frontier gibberish?), what a shock!
gollygee
(22,336 posts)60 hours a week should be enough to pay your bills.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)he's getting hosed getting 20 an hour for those. granted, it's a niche market.
cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)I think it is the relaxing kind of massage I think of, but there must be some reason why he is only getting 3 appointments per week.
He could easily fill up his schedule working freelance, doing massages for $40 per hour in the KC Area.
I have a feeling somebody's going to come along and fact check this guy and find out there's more to the story than him just not making enough money working 4 jobs.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I'm sure you do feel there's more to the story... and you're doing a wonderfully creative job at filling in the holes with both allegations and guesswork.
cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)dionysus
(26,467 posts)it seems odd he can't find work in that field. then again I don't know the guy so who am I to judge him.
taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)That's a lot of hard work for very little pay. He should move to California, where the minimum wage will be $9.00/hr even for tipped workers. He'd make a lot more out here.
progressoid
(53,221 posts)$9/hr @ 60 hours a week is about 28K a year. That's what he's making now in a place with a lower cost of living and lower unemployment rate. I'm not dissing the $9.00 improvement, but I'm not sure it would be worth the trouble to relocate.
SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)of a secure future.
The middle ground has been trimmed away.
Liberal Arts has been under attack for decades. Once upon a time, people could go to college, get a degree, and find a job that honored that degree, without ever really "applying" it directly.
A person with a degree in English, could get a "middle management" job in just about any big company, and could work their way up the ladder.
Most of those jobs are gone now, as companies "trimmed the fat", and as more people go into debt to get degrees, they get more desperate to get any job they can, those jobs that remain become more devalued.
Specialized degrees are a bit more secure, but even they are under stress, because "cut cut cut" is the modern business mantra. It takes people 4 years or longer to even GET a degree, and by the time they graduate (saddled with crushing debt), the field they hope to enter has been moving along to the next new thing, and often when they graduate, they are already behind.
hack89
(39,181 posts)econoclast
(543 posts)Not specific to this case ... But a few thoughts on a liberal arts college education and employment...
The real question for all college grads is "What can you DO?"
I am a firm believer in the value of a liberal arts education. The things you learn are:
How to think.
How to analyze a problem.
How to communicate those results to others in clear prose.
How to work as part of a team.
Doesn't matter whether you learned these skills in English or History or Philosophy or Psychology or Chemistry or Mathematics.
These skills are transferrable. And these skills are very valuable to ANY employer.
BUT
By themselves they probably won't get you a job. They will allow you to succeed and prosper once you find employment, but probably won't get you hired. To get hired you need something else...some more demonstrable, quantitatively measurable, immediately productive skill. What can you actually DO for an employer today?
Can you type? Can you manipulate spreadsheets? Can you edit documents? Can you operate database programs. Can you make accounting entries? Can you run lab experiments?
I recall reading an interview with the head of a design firm. At the time of the interview she was beginning a large project and speaks about hiring designers :
She has a large project - part of an advertising campaign for a kitchen appliance maker. This project has a hard deadline 8 weeks hence. She has to hire almost a dozen designers - short term - to complete the project. They HAVE to be able to quickly do beautiful renderings of stainless steel objects in Adobe Illustrator. (Toasters, microwaves, refrigerators etc.) Since she has a hard deadline there is no time for a learning curve .... The people she hires for this project have to start producing on day one. She went on to say that she will probably end up hiring at least 3 or 4 of these newbies full-time. And while she says she is looking for the most talented and creative people she can find for those full-time hires, she went on to admit you might be second coming of Michelangelo and Da Vinci ... But if you can't render stainless steel toasters in Illustrator she'll never even look at your portfolio! Intellectually, she knows she needs the most talented and creative designers to grow her firm for the future ..... But pragmatically she has to get toasters rendered TODAY!!!! So she'll end up hiring the most talented and creative from among those who can render stainless steel toasters.
Point being that, to a prospective employer, your undergraduate liberal arts degree means you are smart and have up-side potential. But things being as they are, what can you actually DO .... Today?
Phentex
(16,710 posts)Well stated and spot on for today's job market. 