Most jobs in county don't pay 'living wage'

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Most jobs in county don't pay 'living wage'
Community groups produce report

By CAROL SMITH
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Most jobs in King County and throughout the state don't pay enough to provide a basic "living wage" for a single-parent family, and little more than half the jobs will sustain families even when both parents are working, according to a new report on the gap between living wages and job availability in Washington.

A living wage means one that covers basic housing, utilities, child care, health care, transportation, food, taxes and a small emergency fund, said Will Pittz, regional organizer for the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, and one of the authors of the report.

The report was sponsored by the federation of groups, which includes advocacy organizations, such as Washington Citizen Action.

In King County, for example, the group calculated that it would take $11.89 an hour to sustain a single adult, and $25.35 an hour to maintain a household with one parent and two children.

It cost more to live in King County than in some other areas of the state. Overall, the living wage in Washington was $10.77 for a single adult, and $22.35 for a family of three. If both parents work, each would have to earn a minimum of $14.16 an hour to raise two children, the report found.

Those wages exceed both the minimum wage and the federal poverty income limits, Pittz said.

The report also found that for a single adult raising one child, 44 percent of all jobs in Washington pay a living wage. Only 26 percent pay enough for a single parent to raise two children. Slightly more than half -- 59 percent -- pay the living wage for dual-income families.

About 77 percent of Washington jobs pay the living wage for a single adult.

"The service industry in the expanding sector of jobs that are subliving wage and that don't provide health benefits," Pittz said. "But this is a problem that affects all industries, in part because of a decline in employer-based coverage for health care."

In addition, the group found that competition for jobs is steep, even for those that don't pay a living wage.

According to the report, there is an average of four job seekers for every job opening that pays a living wage for a single adult and an average of 12 for jobs that pay enough to support a single parent of two.

P-I reporter Carol Smith can be reached at 206-448-8070 or carolsmith@seattlepi.com.

Add P-I Local headlines to