Study finds impoverished are ‘treading water.’
Low-wage workers know they have to enhance their skills to escape low-wage jobs, but long hours and multiple jobs make skill-building and education nearly impossible, according to a new policy brief released by the Center for Poverty Research at UC Davis.
“The very conditions of low-wage work necessitate that workers hold multiple jobs, and that they have to put in long hours if they can,” said Victoria Smith, a professor of sociology and a faculty affiliate for the Center for Poverty Research. “People find themselves very caught up, just treading water. The fact that they often are supporting other people heightens their need to take extra hours when they can get them.”
In this ongoing study, Smith and co-author Brian Halpin, a graduate student in sociology at UC Davis, conducted in-depth interviews with 25 low-wage workers in the Napa/Sonoma area in fall 2012. Smith and Halpin asked workers about their current job situations as well as their plans for the future.
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