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Mitt "I Know How To Create Jobs" Romney's Retail Jobs Offer More Low Wages Than Middle Income
February 27, 2012 5:00 AM
Romney's Retail Jobs Offer More Low Wages Than Middle Income
http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LZI8QC6S972801-2SV686LJ2HJHO04KN8V138PM76
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Mitt Romney says the U.S. can be “the best place in the world to be middle class again” and points to his hand in founding companies such as Staples Inc. and The Sports Authority Inc. to show he can create jobs to get people there.
While these retailers provide salaried positions, including store manager, that offer a path to the middle class, the majority are hourly jobs that don't. Sales associates at the two chains make less than $9 an hour on average, according to survey data from Glassdoor.com. At that rate, which is common in the industry, someone working 40 hours a week would earn below the poverty line of $19,090 for a family of three.
“Some people in those companies in management do fine,” said Stephanie Luce, who studies low-wage labor issues as an associate professor at the City University of New York's Murphy Institute. However, “the way to make a living wage is to get into a management position, and there are very few of those.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 60 percent of workers in office supply and sporting goods stores are salespeople or cashiers, who are generally paid even less.
Romney's Retail Jobs Offer More Low Wages Than Middle Income
http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LZI8QC6S972801-2SV686LJ2HJHO04KN8V138PM76
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Mitt Romney says the U.S. can be “the best place in the world to be middle class again” and points to his hand in founding companies such as Staples Inc. and The Sports Authority Inc. to show he can create jobs to get people there.
While these retailers provide salaried positions, including store manager, that offer a path to the middle class, the majority are hourly jobs that don't. Sales associates at the two chains make less than $9 an hour on average, according to survey data from Glassdoor.com. At that rate, which is common in the industry, someone working 40 hours a week would earn below the poverty line of $19,090 for a family of three.
“Some people in those companies in management do fine,” said Stephanie Luce, who studies low-wage labor issues as an associate professor at the City University of New York's Murphy Institute. However, “the way to make a living wage is to get into a management position, and there are very few of those.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 60 percent of workers in office supply and sporting goods stores are salespeople or cashiers, who are generally paid even less.
