One step forward, two steps back - the working poor

American Demographics, Sept, 1997 by William O'Hare, Joseph Schwartz

"The third group of people have only the power of their labor, and they will not do very well because there are billions of them," Massey says. "Workers find themselves competing on a global stage; they find it hard to maintain earning levels that are competitive." Consequently, uneducated workers increasingly compete for menial jobs that hold little value to employers. This is what the booming service economy has come to mean. Lots of jobs, little opportunity or money.

Just as the lack of training and education hampers an adult's labor force prospects, poverty can hamper a child's success as well. Poverty is one of the most powerful predictors of the difficulties a child will face growing up and of the child's prospects for becoming a productively employed adult. Researchers at the Rand Corporation tried to assess to what extent achievement-test scores could be attributed to family background. "We found that seven characteristics are implicated in (test) scores," says senior researcher David Grissmer. Those characteristics are parental education levels, parental income, family size, age of mother at child's birth, mother's working status, racial/ethnic group, and whether the family consists of one or two parents.

"Parental education is one of the strongest predictors of achievement, but all seven are important," Grissmer says. This suggests that the Horatio Alger rags-to-riches story is becoming more of a myth than ever--and that the children of working poor are likely to repeat their parents' economic struggles unless something intervenes to change the trajectory.

Emphasis on Skills

There may be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for those without a college education. It might come in time for the children of the working poor, if not for their parents. Oddly enough, it picks up where the decline of the living wage was first felt, in the hard-core blue-collar sector.

Some manufacturing jobs that remain are extremely well-paid, such as those in the automobile industry. But getting a job on an automobile assembly line is much tougher than it used to be. U.S. car companies recognize their global competition, and they are getting more and more selective about who they hire, whether it is an engineer or an assembly-line worker. This selectivity may be the key to salvaging the value of work in America.

"We are no longer competing with other Americans, we are competing with the world," says Valerie Becker, national education programs administrator at Chrysler Corporation. "If we don't stay sharp, we will be in trouble. At Chrysler, we have greatly enhanced what we do to find good employees."

Chrysler's selectivity is a reaction to today's global competition. "In order to have better quality and integrity with our products, we need better entry-level employees across the board," Becker says. "We are looking for different types of candidates in 1997 than we were in 1987."

Chrysler is searching for potential assembly-line workers who have good communication and problem-solving skills. They don't have to have a college education, but they have to be responsible and independent. "On our line, if there is something happening that is going to take away from the quality of the product, the person has to take the initiative and say, Stop,'" says Becker.