Low-wage jobs often make financial security elusive
Cherie McNaul lost her love of pancakes years ago
-- after eating the breakfast food several days each
week because it was all she could afford and still have
money to buy diapers for her infant son.
"You can make pancakes with water, and it's easier
and cheaper than a lot of food," McNaul said.
She said she ate a steady diet of cheap food,
including bologna sandwiches, as a young single mother
to cut expenses and be able to afford necessities such
as infant formula and baby food.
"I did that until he got old enough to eat regular
food, then I had to learn how to save money in other
ways," McNaul said.
Until recently, she was one of millions of Americans
on a fixed income.
"Living on disability gave us just enough to get by,"
she said.
In her late 20s, McNaul was diagnosed with a form of
degenerative arthritis, and her medical condition forced
her to leave her job and seek government assistance.
Although local and national economic indicators point
toward an improving economy, 34.6 million people -- one
in eight Americans -- live in poverty, and many more are
living in near-poverty.
Each year, the federal government calculates the
minimum amount of money required by families to meet
basic needs. According to the Census Bureau, a family of
four with an annual income of less than $18,850 is
living in poverty.
Many experts, however, say families making much more
than that are not earning enough money to pay all their
bills. Families do not have to be on a fixed income such
as disability to feel the need to cut expenses.
A family of four living in Tulsa needs to earn at
least $40,343 per year to meet all of its needs, said
David Blatt, director of public policy for the Community
Action Project.
This means that each of the two working adults in the
family must earn a minimum of $9.55 per hour, says the
organization's 2002 Oklahoma Self-Sufficiency Report.
According to the Tulsa Metro Chamber, companies have
added more than 6,600 jobs since January, and since
December firms have announced plans to add 7,600 jobs.
These announcements include call centers for Dish
Network and DirecTV, and machinist jobs at Boeing Co.,
said Bob Ball, research manager at the chamber.
The salary range for the new jobs is between $22,000
and $60,000 per year, with an average annual salary of
$34,000, Ball said.
This means many of these new jobs will not provide
sufficient income for people to support their families,
Blatt said.
"In Tulsa and rural parts of the state, there's a
prevalence of low-wage jobs that don't allow families to
develop wealth and security," he said.
Families that would be called middle class, earning
$35,000 to $50,000 each year, are just one unexpected
event away from "economic precariousness," he said.
Soaring prices for gasoline and some food staples
such as milk have put even more pressure on low-income
consumers.
Although families may earn enough to pay all of their
bills, many households do not have much if any financial
cushion. An unplanned car repair, a sudden layoff or
high medical expenses are often enough to put a family
in bill trouble.
"Across a lifetime, there are different things that
you don't anticipate, but that can throw you into
poverty," said Mark Rank, author of "One Nation,
Underprivileged -- Why American Poverty Affects Us All."
During the past 20 years, the United States has
produced lower-paying jobs, and families have been able
to put away less money for emergencies, said Rank, a
professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
"People are working, but they're just not getting
ahead," he said. "Many are just one paycheck away from
poverty."
Often, jobs that pay less than $10 per hour do not
have benefits, and people are left to pay for their own
health coverage and are at risk for accruing high
medical bills.
Rank said the statistics about poverty in America are
startling:
- Three-fourths of people living in the United
States will experience poverty or near-poverty in
their lifetimes.
- Between the ages of 20 and 65, two-thirds of
Americans will use some sort of government assistance
program such as food stamps or Medicaid.
During the past 30 years, workers have
seen their health benefits cut or eliminated, said Tom
Chabolla, associate director of programs for the
Washington D.C.-based Catholic Campaign for Human
Development.
Locally, the loss of higher-paying jobs at companies
such as Williams Cos., WilTel Communications Group, MCI
and Citgo Petroleum Corp. has diminished wealth in the
community.
"We have to do what we can to attract high-skill,
high-tech, higher-paying jobs," said Community Action's
Blatt.
Raising the median income in Oklahoma by supporting
education and job training will allow workers to be
ready for jobs of the future, he said.
Training helped Cherie McNaul's story to have a happy
ending.
The Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program
helped her get a job she can perform despite her
disease. As the office manager for the Eye Restoration
Clinic, she will soon earn enough to make ends meet.
After a trial period, the clinic is putting McNaul on
salary, and company officials even continued to pay her
during a recent medical leave.
"They've been so good to me," she said.
At the age of 44, after 10 years of living on
government subsidies, McNaul collects her final
disability check this month.
Nicole Nascenzi 581-8315
nicole.nascenzi@tulsaworld.com
