Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: We romanticize manufacturing jobs when what we really miss are unions. [View all]eridani
(51,907 posts)61. Poor Wages Send a Third of US Manufacturing Workers to Welfare Lines in Order to Pay for--
--Food, Healthcare, Data Show
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/36840-poor-wages-send-a-third-of-us-manufacturing-workers-to-welfare-lines-in-order-to-pay-for-food-healthcare-data-show
U.S. manufacturing jobs used to be a path to the middle class for Americans who couldnt or didnt dive into the comfort provided by higher education degrees. But now many skilled, working Americans need some form of public assistance because their wages dont pay for basic living expenses.
Just over 2 million supervised manufacturing workers, or about a third of the total, need food stamps, Medicaid, tax credits for the poor or other forms of publicly subsided assistance while they work on goods that can carry the tag Made in the U.S.A., according to research of official government wage and welfare data relased Tuesday by the University of California, Berkeley.
The cost of these benefits to the U.S. taxpayer? From 2009 to 2013, federal and state governments subsidized the low manufacturing wages paid by the private sector to the tune of $10.2 million per year.
Oregon led the nation on the number of manufacturing workers 1 in 4 that needed food stamps during that period of time, while 1 in 5 factory workers in Mississippi and Illinois needed healthcare assistance for both adults (Medicaid) and children (CHIP). Taking into account all major social welfare, including the earned income tax credit and temporary assistance to needy families (TANF), Mississippi topped the list, followed by Georgia, California and Texas.
In decades past, production workers employed in manufacturing earned wages significantly higher than the U.S. average, but by 2013 the typical manufacturing production worker made 7.7 percent below the median wage for all occupations, said the paper by a team headed by Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/36840-poor-wages-send-a-third-of-us-manufacturing-workers-to-welfare-lines-in-order-to-pay-for-food-healthcare-data-show
U.S. manufacturing jobs used to be a path to the middle class for Americans who couldnt or didnt dive into the comfort provided by higher education degrees. But now many skilled, working Americans need some form of public assistance because their wages dont pay for basic living expenses.
Just over 2 million supervised manufacturing workers, or about a third of the total, need food stamps, Medicaid, tax credits for the poor or other forms of publicly subsided assistance while they work on goods that can carry the tag Made in the U.S.A., according to research of official government wage and welfare data relased Tuesday by the University of California, Berkeley.
The cost of these benefits to the U.S. taxpayer? From 2009 to 2013, federal and state governments subsidized the low manufacturing wages paid by the private sector to the tune of $10.2 million per year.
Oregon led the nation on the number of manufacturing workers 1 in 4 that needed food stamps during that period of time, while 1 in 5 factory workers in Mississippi and Illinois needed healthcare assistance for both adults (Medicaid) and children (CHIP). Taking into account all major social welfare, including the earned income tax credit and temporary assistance to needy families (TANF), Mississippi topped the list, followed by Georgia, California and Texas.
In decades past, production workers employed in manufacturing earned wages significantly higher than the U.S. average, but by 2013 the typical manufacturing production worker made 7.7 percent below the median wage for all occupations, said the paper by a team headed by Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
105 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
Why is it that the German people and their government stubbornly kept their manufacturing
truedelphi
May 2016
#34
Thats true, German unions are very strong so even with T1SA and T*IP coming they are
Baobab
May 2016
#94
Through the EU Germany has trade agreements with 19 countries in Central/South America,
pampango
May 2016
#98
It's known that the more control and decision making you give a worker,
passiveporcupine
May 2016
#22
Good point. Manufacturing jobs have declined everywhere but progressive countries have strong unions
pampango
May 2016
#6
None of that is the real problem. Progressive countries all belong to the WTO (MFN for China),
pampango
May 2016
#24
That would be a good question to ask unions in Sweden and Germany where they are very strong
pampango
May 2016
#44
OK, but what keeps German, or Swedish, companies from moving jobs to China or other such? - eom
dreamnightwind
May 2016
#100
Our imports from China are 2.6% of our economy. In Germany it is 2.4% so they probably
pampango
May 2016
#101
I lived through the period when the unions were most powerful, in the 50s through 70s.....
dmosh42
May 2016
#81
I worked 40 plus years in a union shop the unions are only as corrupt as the people you elect to run
doc03
May 2016
#52
I work in a Teamster-unionized factory. It's nothing glamorous, and often horribly stressful work
NickB79
May 2016
#15
You're correct. I had one during college, it was toxic and horrible. Anyone making less than
diane in sf
May 2016
#17
Manufacturing jobs that moved away today will be nothing like those that might move back.
Agnosticsherbet
May 2016
#53
No union has leverage when these 'free' trade agreements allow their jobs to be shipped overseas. nt
w4rma
May 2016
#57
Yes, there IS something special about manufacturing jobs! they are inherently more profitable
TheFrenchRazor
May 2016
#59
total manufacturing may or may not be up; population definitely is, so show me some per capita
TheFrenchRazor
May 2016
#91
your quote says there's nothing special about manufacturing jobs. i disagree. nt
TheFrenchRazor
May 2016
#89
it's not either/or !! we need manufacturing AND unions, as i alluded to. good evening. nt
TheFrenchRazor
May 2016
#92
Poor Wages Send a Third of US Manufacturing Workers to Welfare Lines in Order to Pay for--
eridani
May 2016
#61
It's a perception issue. This is one of my favorite topics so PM me if you want to hear more.
stevenleser
May 2016
#97