Rebecca Thiess, Economic Policy Institute, April 27, 2012

Many workers are facing uniquely tough times. Though now below its recessionary peak of 10 percent in October 2009, unemployment remains high at 8.2 percent, and job growth is slow. With around 25 million people unemployed or underemployed, it is clear that the jobs crisis did not subside with the official end of the recession. Moreover, workers are still suffering from difficulties that materialized in the decades before the Great Recession, such as deteriorating job quality and stagnant wages. The economic expansion from 2001–2007, for instance, was among the weakest on record; typical family incomes grew by less than one half of one percent between 2000 and 2007 (Bivens 2011). These economic challenges are particularly acute for workers at the bottom of the wage scale.

This paper focuses on low-wage workers—who they are, where they work, where they live, and what their future challenges may be in regards to education/skill requirements, job quality, and wages. Analysis of employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveals that the future of work will be shaped by much more than labor market skill demands. And in the future, rising wages will depend more on the wage growth within occupations than on any change in the mix of occupations.

Download The future of work: Trends and challenges for low-wage workers