On 2/9/05 the Seattle Post Intelligencer started a series on lower paid workers and the economic obstacles they face. Following are some of the disturbing facts in the first article in this series.

In King and Snohomish counties, there are about a half million people, a quarter of them children, earning less than $38,000 for a family of four. This is about a fifth of our region’s population. And most of them are working.

While immigrants and minority groups suffer disproportionately from poverty, 65% of the region’s poor are white; 80% are US citizens, 91% speak English well, and 54% have attended college. Most are single.

Manufacturing jobs have traditionally been a major path to middle-class wages for those without college degrees. With automation and the shipping of jobs overseas, the percentage of these jobs in Washington State has slipped from 27% in the mid 1960’s to under 10% today.

Many economists see the emerging US society as a “U”. There are many low-paying jobs for retail employees, childcare workers, etc. at one end of the “U” and many high-paying jobs for lawyers, software developers, accountants, etc. at the other end. There are fewer jobs in the middle that offer a route out of poverty.

One in every 6.5 jobs in Washington State currently pays poverty-level wages. Most poor lack skills to jump to the higher-paying end of the “U”.

For a more detailed analysis of where this is potentially leading our nation, read “Wealth and Democracy” by Kevin Phillips.