Why The Minimum Wage Is A Womens Issue Gender Justice in the 2014 - - PDF document

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Why The Minimum Wage Is A Women’s Issue

Gender Justice in the 2014 Election San Diego State University October 17, 2014

Raise Up San Diego

• Broad-based coalition of community stakeholders.

Our Beliefs

• Nobody should be forced to choose between caring for

sick a loved one and losing a day’s pay.

• Nobody who works full-time should live in poverty.

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Minimum Wage Is A Women’s Issue

• Women make up almost

half of the workforce;

• Their wages are crucial

to many family budgets and support many local businesses;

• Women are
• verrepresented in jobs

that pay poverty wages and lack access to earned sick leave.

Low-wage jobs lack basic benefits that help a family make ends meet.

• Among all private-sector

workers in San Diego, 44 percent, or about 195,733 private sector working women lack access to earned sick days.

• Women are more likely to

take time off to care for a sick child

44%

Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Access to Earned Sick Leave in San Diego, February 2014

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Lacking Access to Earned Sick Leave

• 55% of Hispanic workers;
• 74% of workers engaged in personal care and service
• ccupations (child care workers, elderly care

workers); and

• 82% of workers in the Food Services industry.

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44% of San Diego s pr ivate wor k for ce l acks access to ear ned sick days... ...This incl udes 82% per cent of em pl oyees wor king in the food ser vices.

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“Although California’s minimum

wage is scheduled to increase in 2016, that translates into an annual salary of less than $21,000, which is simply not enough in a city with a high a cost of living like ours.”

• Interim Mayor Todd Gloria

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Self Sufficiency vs. Federal Poverty

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How much must a worker make to meet the cost of living in San Diego?

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Many Women Live Below The Self Sufficiency Standard

• More than a third (35.4%) of households

headed by employed women live below the self-sufficiency standard.

– 55.3% of households headed by employed Latina women – 42.0% of households headed by employed Black women – 32.8% of households headed by employed Asian women

The Gender Gap

• Women make less than

80 cents for every dollar paid to men, on average

– Black women face an additional 14% disadvantage in earnings – Latinas face an additional 25% disadvantage in earnings

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San Diego Industries Predominantly Employing Women

Industry Percent Female Would Gain Access to Earned Sick Leave Would Receive A Raise Food Service 47.4% 82% 64.1% Accommodation 57.5% 53% 50.7% Other Services* 55.8% 62% 45.6% Retail Trade 49.8% 45% 42.3% Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation** 53.3% 46% 33.0% Educational, Health & Social Services 70.9% 34% 24.6% Finance, Insurance & Real Estate 50.8% 30% 18.1% ALL INDUSTRIES 44.4% 44% 30.0%

*Examples include spas, salons, drycleaners, parking, and pet care. **Examples include golf courses and country clubs, fitness centers, amusement parks, zoos, and museums. Sources: Analysis of 2012 American Community Survey data and “Access to Earned sick Leave in San Diego,” by Claudia Williams, Institute for Women’s Policy Research Briefing Paper B325, 2014

New Jobs Are Not Keeping Pace

12 Median Hourly Median Annual 41-2031 Retail Salespersons 19,250 $11.01 $22,887 41-2011 Cashiers 19,240 $9.55 $19,854 35-3031 Waiters and Waitresses 19,210 $8.97 $18,660 35-3021 Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food 13,390 $9.24 $19,219 43-9061 Office Clerks, General 12,000 $14.32 $29,784 43-4051 Customer Service Representatives 9,210 $17.17 $35,716 53-7062 Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand 7,830 $12.01 $24,986 29-1111* Registered Nurses 7,700 $40.72 $84,711 37-2011 Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners 6,340 $11.27 $23,445 43-1011 First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers 6,330 $25.26 $52,529 37-3011 Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers 6,260 $11.12 $23,124 35-2021 Food Preparation Workers 6,150 $9.62 $20,008 43-5081 Stock Clerks and Order Fillers 6,120 $10.52 $21,885 11-1021 General and Operations Managers 5,870 $54.01 $112,339 35-3022 Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop 5,840 $9.29 $19,309 SOC Code* Occupational Title 2012 First Quarter Wages [2] Total Job Openings [1]

2010-2020 Occupations With the Most Openings San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area

Source: Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division [1] Total jobs are the sum of new jobs and replacement needs. [2] Median hourly and annual wages are the estimated 50th percentile of the distribution of wages; 50 percent of workers in an occupation earn wages below, and 50 percent earn wages above the median wage. The wages are from 2012 first quarter and do not include self-employed or unpaid family workers.

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The End Result

Yet m any San Diegans ar e being for ced to m ake these har d decisions. Like Mar ibel Sosa...

Too m any san diegans ar e being l eft behind!

5 5 9 I am al ways j ust one day s pay away fr om being unabl e to keep a r oof over m y fam il y s head. I m ake j ust $8 an hour , so if I get sick I have no choice but to go to wor k anyway. My r eal fear is that m y four -year -ol d wil l catch a col d. Those ar e the har dest days for m e -- when I have to l eave m y sick daughter with her gr andm

• ther because I can t affor d to take

a day off wor k to take car e of her .

• Mar ibel Sosa

Fast Food Em pl oyee

Our Proposal

• 5 Days of earned sick leave for every working

San Diegan;

• Minimum Wage increase to $11.50/hour;
• 3-year phase-in period;

– $9.75 on January 1, 2015 – $10.50 on January 1, 2016 – $11.50 on January 1, 2017

• Indexing to inflation beginning on January 1,

2019

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The Benefits for Women

• Close the gender gap by 22%;
• 1 in 3 women would get a raise;
• 53% of those getting a raise will be women;
• 1 in 3 working parents will get a raise; and
• 2/3 of part-time women will get a raise

– Many women work part-time to balance family and work

The Benefits

• Expand access to earned sick days to over

279,000 San Diegans;

• Increase the wages of at least 172,000 San

Diegans; and

• Put more than $260 million into the pockets of

San Diego’s lowest income working families, who will turn around and spend most of that money at local stores and businesses.

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Questions?

Robert Nothoff Research & Policy Analyst Center on Policy Initiatives rnothoff@onlinecpi.org 619.584.5744 ext. 23