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Poverty and a Livable Wage
Research shows that most poor* families are working families, in fact, in most states poor families have one or more workers. These workers are employed a substantial number of weeks and hours in a given year. Research also shows that poverty despite work has grown over the last two decades. In 1995, the overall worker poverty rate was almost 20 percent higher than in 1979. Among families with children, the rate was 38 percent higher for the same time period. A major factor influencing these poverty rates is the increasing prevalence of low-wage work. Between 1979 and 1995, adjusting for inflation, the hourly wages for low-wage workers fell 17 percent (Lazere 1997).

This growing number of poor families is a factor behind the long-term increase in income inequality. The gap between the rich and the poor is as wide, or wider, than at any time since the Census Bureau first began collecting this data in the 1960s. In Delaware, income inequality has been increasing – in the mid-1990s the richest 20 percent of families with children had an average income ten times as large as the poorest 20 percent, an increase of 39 percent in two decades. Further, over the last ten years, the gap in Delaware has worsened (Lazere). These data on income do not even begin to address the gap in wealth – "Income refers to the flow of money over time like a rate per hour... wealth is a stock of assets owned at a particular time." (Oliver and Shapiro 1995)

Tied in with poverty among workers is the real value of the minimum wage. This pay standard which was created to "make work pay" has declined by about 40 percent since its peak in 1968. In 1996, a full-time minimum wage worker received only 58 percent of the poverty line for a family of four. It is generally agreed upon that the minimum wage does not cover even basic needs. As an alternative, measures have been taken to determine a wage rate that does cover the costs of food, shelter, clothing, and transportation. This is known as a living – or livable wage.

The Job Vacancy Study
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) regularly reports the official unemployment rate. However, this measure does not include part-time workers, or those who want jobs but are not actively seeking work. In order to collect complementary data, some communities have begun to launch job vacancy surveys. This job vacancy study is an instrument through which the overall employment situation can be better illuminated. Its purpose is to conduct a study of job openings in order to assess the number and type of jobs available and the level of skills training employees need to fill openings, (Job Openings Surveys, 1997) and most important perhaps, wage levels.

Detailed unemployment statistics are collected every month, but there are no corresponding data collected or reported regarding job openings. Such a survey could inform policy makers, as well as the public about numbers of job openings, the occupational type, whether they are full- or part-time, type of preparation is needed, and how much they pay. These surveys can also shed light on spatial and skill considerations between employer needs and labor force participants, identify hard to fill jobs, and assess occupational shifts in the economy and the shifts’ impact on low-skilled and semi-skilled workers.

Job vacancy surveys could be of great benefit especially in light of the recently enacted federal welfare reform law,** and the pending Moving to Work demonstration effort in Delaware. The TANF program mandates that most parents who are currently receiving assistance go to work and imposes time limits on receipt of benefits. The success of the TANF program depends on the ability of parents to make the transition from welfare to work (Lazere, 1997).

In addition to informing TANF policy, job vacancy surveys would be useful for the Delaware State Housing Authority’s (DSHA) Moving to Work effort. Requirements of Moving to Work include that all residents of low-income public and publicly-assisted (Section 8) housing families who are not elderly, disabled, or fit into a special needs category sign a contract. This contract has job training / job search initiatives, or other employment requirements as well as non-work mandates. Moving to Work will impose time limits on receiving housing assistance and is piggybacked in several respects on "A Better Chance," (ABC) Delaware’s welfare reform program. The contract obligations for DSHA include the provision of case management and benefits such as rent caps (Delaware State Housing Authority, 1997).

Job vacancy survey data could also be indispensable in the case of the Food Stamp work requirements. In the case of Food Stamps, "Congress acknowledged that it does not make sense to require people to work for their benefits when the economy isn’t providing enough jobs," (Harvey, 1997). The law authorizes the federal government to waive minimum work requirements for the Food Stamp program in certain areas if there are not enough jobs for everyone who is expected to work.

Results from Local Communities
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin metro area is the only area in the US where a regular job vacancy survey is conducted. In the state of Minnesota, a Jobs Gap Survey project was conducted which, in addition to seeking information similar to the Milwaukee surveys, also specifically sought to identify how many livable wage jobs were available (JOBS NOW Coalition, 1997). There are several other communities throughout the country from which findings from job vacancy surveys are now emerging. Surveys results are highlighted below.

The May 1994 Milwaukee survey results found that the full-time job openings available at that time represented about one-third of jobs required for persons seeking, or expected to work. If part-time and full-time jobs were combined, they equaled approximately 56 percent of jobs needed for the population expected to work (Labor Market Study Project, date). In addition, a spacial mismatch was found between job openings and unemployed workers in the Milwaukee area. Unemployed workers in the Community Development Block Grant neighborhoods of the City of Milwaukee outnumbered available full-time jobs by a ratio of 8 workers to each job opening. In Minnesota, a study was created to explain the incongruity that "On one hand the state showed low unemployment rates and high job growth rates; on the other hand an increasing number of people needed help with food, housing, health care, and heat." Findings from the study were that 1) Jobs that pay a livable wage constitute about 48 percent of all Minnesota jobs, and their total grew slower than the average for all jobs; 2)There were an average of 2.7 new job seekers for each available job opening; 3) An average of 6 new job seekers pursued each livable wage job and; 4)There were an average of 31 new job seekers for each livable wage job that requires one year or less of training.

Other important findings come from HUD which took a preliminary look at the effects of welfare reform on the future income of public housing residents, and its impact on the rental income of Local Housing Authorities. It was found that the job competitor-to-public housing resident ratios range from a low of 9- to-1 in Richmond, Virginia to a high of 102-to-1 in Los Angeles, California (Cornell, Define, and Rubin, 1998). Further, it found that public housing residents subject to work requirements are concentrated in particular inner city neighborhoods faced even more difficult odds. In Toledo, Cleveland, and Columbus, HUD found respectively 12, 12, and 6 female job seekers for each entry-level job open to women (Cornell, Define, and Rubin). In another national study it was estimated that welfare recipients leaving the rolls will outnumber new jobs two-to-one, and that they will outnumber livable wage jobs 97-to-1 (Preamble Center for Public Policy, 1998).

A Delaware Job Vacancy Survey
Findings of the studies conducted to date, show surprisingly similar the conclusions. Even when the unemployment rate may be low and/or the job growth rate high, there were not enough jobs available for all who needed one. Spacial and gender mismatches are also vital pieces of information to be considered. Congress has acknowledged the potential contribution of job vacancy surveys by making money available to fund pilot projects.

The consistent findings across several study areas strongly suggest that a job vacancy survey would be of great benefit to Delaware. When completed, the study results need to be carefully considered in the process of creating, reviewing, and modifying policies – especially with regard to welfare reform, housing, and planning. In addition, reliable information detailing the actual cost of living needs to be factored in. For example, close to 10,000 renter households (14.5 percent of all Delaware renter households) earn less than 50 percent of the area median income and, are paying more than 50 percent of their income on rent (Leg. Mason, 1996). This type of information is vital to the thorough, efficient, and ethical design and implementation of policies affecting so many Delawareans.

The Delaware Housing Coalition fully supports the implementation of a statewide job vacancy study in Delaware. The knowledge that such a study would uncover is crucial not only to women– who are disproportionately affected by welfare and housing assistance policy– but to all who value common sense strategic planning and efficient use of public resources.

Gina Miserendino is the Grassroots Policy Analyst for the Delaware Housing Coalition.