Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Friday August 03 2018, @08:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the need-bigger-paychecks-or-shorter-weeks dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

America doesn't have a jobs crisis. It has a 'good jobs' crisis – where too much employment is insecure, and poorly paid

The official rate of unemployment in America has plunged to a remarkably low 3.8%. The Federal Reserve forecasts that the unemployment rate will reach 3.5% by the end of the year.

But the official rate hides more troubling realities: legions of college grads overqualified for their jobs, a growing number of contract workers with no job security, and an army of part-time workers desperate for full-time jobs. Almost 80% of Americans say they live from paycheck to paycheck, many not knowing how big their next one will be.

[...] The typical American worker now earns around $44,500 a year, not much more than what the typical worker earned in 40 years ago, adjusted for inflation. Although the US economy continues to grow, most of the gains have been going to a relatively few top executives of large companies, financiers, and inventors and owners of digital devices.

[...] Not even the current low rate of unemployment is forcing employers to raise wages. Contrast this with the late 1990s, the last time unemployment dipped close to where it is today, when the portion of national income going into wages was 3% points higher than it is today.

[...] By the mid-1950s more than a third of all private-sector workers in the United States were unionized. In subsequent decades public employees became organized, too. Employers were required by law not just to permit unions but to negotiate in good faith with them. This gave workers significant power to demand better wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions. (Agreements in unionized industries set the benchmarks for the non-unionized).

[...] Today, fewer than 7% of private-sector workers are unionized, and public-employee unions are in grave jeopardy, not least because of the supreme court ruling. The declining share of total US income going to the middle since the late 1960s – defined as 50% above and 50% below the median – correlates directly with that decline in unionization. (See chart below).

[...] This great shift in bargaining power, from workers to corporations, has pushed a larger portion of national income into profits and a lower portion into wages than at any time since the second world war. In recent years, most of those profits have gone into higher executive pay and higher share prices rather than into new investment or worker pay. Add to this the fact that the richest 10% of Americans own about 80% of all shares of stock (the top 1% owns about 40%), and you get a broader picture of how and why inequality has widened so dramatically.

[...] It is no coincidence that all three branches of the federal government, as well as most state governments, have become more "business-friendly" and less "worker-friendly" than at any time since the 1920s. As I've noted, Congress recently slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. [...] The federal minimum wage has not been increased since 2009, and is now about where it was in 1950 when adjusted for inflation.

-- submitted from IRC


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @08:49AM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @08:49AM (#716594)
    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +3  
       Informative=3, Total=3
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by anubi on Friday August 03 2018, @10:59AM (6 children)

    by anubi (2828) on Friday August 03 2018, @10:59AM (#716619) Journal

    Yeh, I took that test ( top item ). I think its kinda bogus, in the matter that different people have different circumstances.

    I will cite the first question about how much money you should save up for a rainy day. They cite the correct answer as three to six months.

    Now, I felt the correct answer was "One year or more". I am am fundamentally an analog electronic engineer, and dabble in power, embedded software, robotics, and refrigeration. I knew there is a good chance that when I am let go, at my age, I would likely never regain employment, or if I did, it would be working for a bottom-feeder who is going to offer me something I will have to take a loss to accept. I am quite used to the word "overqualified". Which is the legal word for "age discrimination". I can't blame 'em for it either... I flat do not have the energy anymore to put on theater for the executive types. Every hour spent for presentation skills is another hour I get no useful technical work done. Even things like dressing up for office presentation would drain off significant amounts of time and energy.

    Yeh - I'm simply getting old. I won't push my old van hard either... all I will do is blow the thing up. Easy does it and that van will last me the rest of my life, but I am not racing any BMW's ( or MBA's ) .

    I knew if I was to have a job after Corporate, I would most likely have to make my own job.

    And I was right. I got laid off from my last corporate job. Never got into another. At my age, I did not want to go all over the country chasing a job, and going through all that expense of selling and buying a home all over again. It was very obvious to me there were a lot of people chasing the same jobs I was, and a lot of them seemed to have no qualms about claiming rockstar status. I've been in this game long enough to not promise that which I am not sure I can deliver... and the kind of engineering I have always done has been right at the bleeding edge... where sometimes I can get it to work, and sometimes I can't. I am not at the point where I can take the sustained psychological stress of a manager riding my ass anymore.

    If I had not been as fastidious about keeping my financial support infrastructure stable by living within my means and staying out of debt, I would have been in trouble big-time.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Nuke on Friday August 03 2018, @12:50PM (5 children)

      by Nuke (3162) on Friday August 03 2018, @12:50PM (#716661)

      I took the first test too, and even allowing for the fact that I am a European, it is bullshit. Skipped the first question as it is about US healthcare costs, but seeing we have just been told that 80% of Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck, I wonder you don't all die at 65 or soon after - or long before. Second question was badly worded "If you purchase a bond and interest rates rise, what will happen to the price of the bond?"; well in the UK you cannot generally sell a bond once you have bought it (if that is what they mean) - that's why it is called a "bond". Maybe there are exceptions.

      Third question, how long you expect to live after the age of 65, is irrrelevant financially to me and most in UK - in retirement we generally live on pensions till death not savings. Anyway, I don't go on average; in my 50's I don't have anything wrong with me and never have had. Last question - rate of inflation of tuition fees - irrelevant except for people paying for tuition.

      The more I read about the USA the more I think it must be hell to live there.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @02:27PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @02:27PM (#716712)

        well in the UK you cannot generally sell a bond once you have bought it

        If your markets have a modicum of freedom, one will get organized that can purchase your bond before maturity, conversely sell you one. If I had a UK bond, I'm sure I could liquidate it within a week.

        in retirement we generally live on pensions till death not savings.

        In the US we "live" on social security in retirement too. Many Americans prefer some freedom on how they live in retirement though. Social security is our involuntary safety net, it is up to us to plan for the luxuries we will want to enjoy in retirement.

        • (Score: 2) by Nuke on Friday August 03 2018, @08:21PM (1 child)

          by Nuke (3162) on Friday August 03 2018, @08:21PM (#716958)

          If I had a UK bond, I'm sure I could liquidate it within a week.

          Yes, you can cash it in early, but only for the price you paid for it, and probably less than that to cover their "expenses". ie you will get no interest if you cash in before the term. The question in the quiz seemed to concern a scenario of selling it to a third party. I don't know of UK bonds that are transferable like that, but I'm not saying they don't exist.

          https://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/savings/fixed-rate-bond/features-and-benefits [nationwide.co.uk]

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @09:12PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @09:12PM (#716976)

            I mean at Present Value, of the principal and remaining interest payments.

            What you are describing is called a Certificate of Deposit in the US. Those don't usually have paper certificates to be traded easily, but we could still come to a legal agreement, where I pay you a discount on the maturity value in exchange for your promise to pay me the maturity value at the maturity date. How much of a discount, that will be based on remaining run time, current interest rates and your credit risk.

            In your own example, instead of "getting no interest", the bank will charge a flat 90 day's interest. That is probably the worst deal you could possibly get, but the easiest and most liquid market since you have no paper that documents an obligation from someone with a better credit risk.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @11:07PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @11:07PM (#717021)

        http://gflec.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Finlit_paper_16_F2_singles.pdf [gflec.org]

        So what you are saying is that most of the world is financially illiterate except americans because you think some test is bullshit?

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_literacy [wikipedia.org]

        • (Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday August 04 2018, @08:02AM

          by anubi (2828) on Saturday August 04 2018, @08:02AM (#717159) Journal

          Not at all. I think the test is bullshit.

          Its a lot like many other tests I have taken, which more accurately measure the correlation to how I think with the way the test-maker thinks, and tests next to nothing about either one of us.

          Some of those tests are damned frustrating... like those "which is next in the sequence" tests. I may see another sequence, be able to demonstrate why I believe my answer is just as valid as the answer the test-maker said, and I am still wrong. Well, according to the proctor, I am wrong.

          All I believe the test was doing was correlating my way of thinking to the one who designed the test. Neither one of us are God. I absolutely hate those things when they show up on employment screening exams, and I am faced with your typical HR drone which seems to have the mental capacity of a washing machine.

          --
          "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @01:09PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @01:09PM (#716669)

    The quiz referenced by CNBC was bullshit, in my bold opinion. Only a few questions tested financial literacy. It didn't have any questions about tax planning, savings rates, withdrawal rates, investment strategy, opportunity cost, or a plethora of important aspects of financial literacy.

    Financial literacy is so much more than knowing the rate of college inflation or long you will live after 65. It is NOT knowing what the income cap is on roth IRA contributions. It is NOT knowing the difference between a call and put option. It is a mind set. It is about designing your spending around your values. It is about understanding financial topics that apply to YOUR situation. It is about educating yourself to get the most value out of your time and money. It is about choices.

    I hate mainstream financial advice and mainstream financial media. E.g., cut lattes, save 10%, etc. They take the wrong approach. If you design your lifestyle where you are saving 10% of your income, it would take 5 years to build the recommended 6 month emergency fund. Some of the paycheck to paycheck problem is people mindlessly spend money and don't design their purchases and services around their needs and values. E.g., buying some trinket because it is kind of cool and only X dollars. The proper way to buy things is determine your need or want, determine the costs of options, and decide.

    I will use phones and phone plans to make my point.

    Phones and phone service is a great example. Most people don't need unlimited data. Unlimited data contracts have often contained ways for providers to weasel out of it. A lot of data usage can be avoided with some minor usage changes. Google maps allows you to download maps locally. Amazon video lets you do the same. Dolphin web browser can be configured to not download images and video on data.

    Person A and B are co-workers and use their phones for the same things.

    The typical approach to purchasing phone service is something like this: person A usually uses X GB/month, so they buy Y plan. They are used to iPhones and don't want to learn android. They take a lot of videos and pictures, so they need big storage. What would their peers think if they had a cheap Android phone? They want to look successful. They buy a $100/month phone plan and an $800 iPhone. 2 year cost: $3,200

    The better way is: person B needs a phone and service to do X, Y, and Z. X can be pre downloaded, Y doesn't use much data, and Z uses a lot of space, but accumulates over time. Person B calculates that they need 1GB/month and 32 GB of space. Person B finds that microSD cards are cheap and buys a 32GB card for $15. They download the files to their PC every week. They buy a $100 Android phone and a $30/month plan. 2 year cost: $835

    After 4 years, assuming new phones, we are at $6,400, and $1,670, respectively. A difference of $4,730 dollars. Both person A and B do the same things with their phone, B buys around their needs, A doesn't even think about it that way. Person A and B both need new water heaters. Person A puts it on a credit card and pays an extra $80 in interest. Person B grumbles and pays cash, and goes on a weekend get away to unwind a bit. Person A complains they can't afford it. Person A tells person B that since they have money for get aways, that they can afford a better phone...

    Apply this phone process to transportation, housing, insurance, internet service, etc.

    On to low wage workers with degrees. This isn't entirely their fault. They did what society told them. Higher education isn't being used as intended. Liberal arts is NOT job training. When fewer people went to college, education was a good filter for who can learn things and is reasonably intelligent. The huge push of young people to get an undergraduate degree reduced this utility. This is a tough situation, especially with student loan debt. It sucks going to college and not using the education. I have to ask if they have considered learning a skilled trade like plumbing or electrical work? What about car repair--start off with oil changes--and assist with more complex jobs? Do those kind of companies hire unskilled helpers that will eventually learn the ropes and get licensed? What about temp agencies? Starting a side business? A simple side hussle like landscaping can turn into a highly profitable business. It will be hard for these people to get out of this hole. Political action would help, but can't be counted out. Debt not applicable to bankruptcy should not exist. The best they can do is change their expectations, self educate on relevant financial topics, and make the most out of their situation. There is a great personal finance community on the internet that is not mainstream that can probably help some of these people if they are willing to make some changes. It isn't right that it has to be this way, but it is what is.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @07:26PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @07:26PM (#716917)

      TLDR: Get tracphone. Yearly cost for emergency and incidental family needs calls: $100

      If you need any of the other phone crap for work or your business - the work or business should provide and pay for it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @05:11AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @05:11AM (#717138)

      It sucks going to college and not using the education.

      In most cases, there is very little education beyond the basics, much like with the K-12 system. Rote memorization and one-size-fits-all approaches are popular even in colleges, because they are cheap, easy, and give the illusion of education. In most cases, people don't even recognize this as a problem, since this is all they have ever known.