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Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

brookings.edu

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Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#191

Post by bigcohoneypot »

endothrowho333 wrote: post #147
dcolkitt wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your hypothesis does not hold up to the data. The unemployed in Canada experience the same penalty in life satisfaction as the unemployed in the United States: > On average, the unemployed experience lower life satisfaction than the employed by about 0.3 standard deviations in Canada and the United States, by 0.32 standard deviations in the United Kingdom and by 0.47 standard deviations in Germany.[1] Your claims rel…

> Your hypothesis does not hold up to the data. Your data is not relevant to the hypothesis. The surveys were conducted in different time-frames (Canada: 2009-2014, USA 2005-2010), which I shouldn't need to tell anyone why that dataset is not useful for rigorous comparison, but I will anyway: one surveys people who were just recently hit by a recession and tracks them throughout the economy's recovery; while the othe…

For those of us familiar with science, and not social science can you explain why we can't conclude anything from data without further experimentation? Or is this a claim about the scientific method as opposed to say how art is criticized.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#192

Post by hellllllllooo »

seibelj wrote: post #27

People need to get that first job. That first job leads to skills, experience, knowledge of how to interact with coworkers, and so on. Few people start at minimum wage and then get stuck there. The ranks of the poor are fluid. This is one reason why I’m against the minimum wage - by making it harder to get that first job, you make it increasingly difficult to get into the employment market. I would be less opposed to…

The article is saying unemployment is very low so your point doesn't stand. The minimum wage isn't hurting employment. What's hurting people are the low wages.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#193

Post by williamDafoe »

htk wrote: post #164

I see this as a new tactic from the left. Since they can’t complain about unemployment in the record lows since forever, they complain about the jobs themselves.

See the trump difference? There is NONE:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12300060

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#194

Post by rumanator »

dfilppi wrote: post #146
DoreenMichele wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, American smugness about this is likely driven by the fact that most Americans lack perspective concerning how other systems work. They just don't get it that a better medical system that doesn't tie medical access to having a job at all brings stress levels down enormously.

You dont need a job to have access to health care in the US. All you need is the ability to pay for the services you use.

> You dont need a job to have access to health care in the US. All you need is the ability to pay for the services you use.

About 40% of Americans would struggle to come up with $400 for an unexpected expense, and most wouldn't even be able to borrow any money.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/20/heres-why-so-many-americans-...

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#195

Post by alpineidyll3 »

_0uto wrote: post #31

I see a lot of protestant mentality here in comments valuing any kind of even inhumane labour which does not allow to meet basic needs over not having a job, but also not suffering from hunger thanks to the social support system. In my opinion, we as a society should aim to work less and less, collectively making use of automation and technological progress. But it will be hard when we label this as being lazy and no…

Conservative perspectives often involve some sort of built-in need to proselytize, because they view life as a triumph of ego over intrinsic human weakness. There's an idea that all people need to hear the message of personal responsibility.

Sadly data is weaker than any bias of perspectives, and people find it impossible to think causally without some larger brittle philosophical framework.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#196

Post by sneak »

jkoudys wrote: post #22

America has a weird sense of superiority about its lower unemployment numbers vs Canada. The difference is the US, you basically need a job, or else you're one broken ankle, complex childbirth, or infected hangnail away from complete financial ruin. People being able to take extra time to find the right job is a good thing for the economy. Better than being driven by an abject fear of not having a job.

The infected hangnail case is because it’s illegal for the corner store to sell you $4 in antibiotics without a $200 doctor’s note, fwiw.

This is an issue with the government, not the economy or medical system. They literally make cheap treatment illegal.

PS: For anyone in this situation, search online for FISH MOX or FISH PEN. Amoxicillin and Penicillin respectively. Aquarium stores usually carry them. Saved my life a few times! Sadly, no longer on Amazon.

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#197

Post by williamDafoe »

ikeboy wrote: post #23

>In a recent analysis, we found that 53 million workers ages 18 to 64—or 44% of all workers—earn barely enough to live on. Their median earnings are $10.22 per hour, and about $18,000 per year. Right away, they're presenting some large number that's actually double the real number of people below that threshold. If the median is $10.22, that means only half of them make less than that. They then make a bunch of broad…

We imported Chinese products.

We imported Chinese social problems.

which means we imported severe rural poverty of subsistence living! We decided it was smart to compete with that so that our execs could have a few more dollars of bonuses. We even imported authoritarian behavior from the Chinese government!

It's the one-party no-listening rule by the Trumpanzise government - a highly authoritarian regime ...

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#198

Post by adamsea »

trentnix wrote: post #139
supernova87a wrote: post #36

I don't think low unemployment is the unequivocal positive sign that politicians/ think it is ("We're putting millions of Americans back to work!"). Maybe it's not something to be so proud of. If people are having to come out of the woodwork to take jobs that aren't moving the average wage up, maybe they're doing it because they have to, in order to get by. Is it a good thing that a 60+ year old goes back to work at…

It’s certainly a good thing if a 60+ year old can go to work because he/she can’t pay the bills or whatever other reasons they choose to add income. And when jobs are plentiful, it’s inevitable that wages go up as well. Employers are competing for employees, and the skilled and useful ones inevitably become better compensated as a result.

... and if the same conditions which create work for said sixty-year-old person to return to are the same conditions that led to them being unable to retire at sixty (perhaps because they never had the opportunity to do anything other than low laying work with no opportunity for growth and existed at the poverty line)?

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#199

Post by kazinator »

jkoudys wrote: post #22

America has a weird sense of superiority about its lower unemployment numbers vs Canada. The difference is the US, you basically need a job, or else you're one broken ankle, complex childbirth, or infected hangnail away from complete financial ruin. People being able to take extra time to find the right job is a good thing for the economy. Better than being driven by an abject fear of not having a job.

I think you mean, "you need a well-paid job, with heaps of medical coverage".

Re: Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

#200

Post by scarface74 »

hellllllllooo wrote: post #182
mxschumacher wrote: post #157

In reference to those low-paying retail jobs: I have done some research on large US retailers like J.C. Penney, Gamestop, Macy's, Sears and Tailored Brands. It's quite scary to see how dire the situation is for these firms. Shrinking revenues, plenty of debt, hardly any profit in sight. The most shocking to is the number of people they employ (more than 90k in the case of J.C. Penney), many of whom can be sure to be…

Walmart, Amazon and Target are doing fine and still pay low wages. I don't understand your point or choice of companies to list.

Amazon retail is not “doing fine”. It’s a low margin business with high fixed costs.
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