An embroidery worker
CHICAGO — A new survey by CareerBuilder found that 75 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet. While the majority of that group (38 percent) said they “sometimes live paycheck-to-paycheck,” 23 percent said they are always one paycheck from financial hardship.
Not surprisingly, those having the hardest time making ends meet are those with minimum wage jobs. Sixty-six percent of those currently working for minimum wage or who have held a minimum wage job in the past said they couldn’t make ends meet. Another 50 percent said it required more than one job to cover basic necessities.
The survey questioned more than 3,200 full-time workers and more than 2,100 full-time hiring and human resource managers in the private sector across industries.
While the problem is most acute in the lower wage sectors, workers in a variety of income brackets are finding it tough to cover the cost of living. Nineteen percent of workers at all salary levels were not able to make ends meet every month during the past year. Twenty-three percent of workers making $50,000-$99,999, and 51 percent of those making less than $50,000 feel they usually or always struggle to make ends meet. Even 9 percent of those making $100,000 or more feel they usually or always live paycheck to paycheck.
Another problem for those struggling with expenses is debt. Sixty-eight percent of all workers say they are in debt with 46 percent of those saying it’s manageable. The costs associated with trying to make ends meet has caused 16 percent of all workers to reduce their 401k contribution and/or personal savings in the last year. More than a third (36 percent) do not participate in a 401k plan, IRA or comparable retirement plan, A quarter of workers didn’t set aside any savings each month in the last year.
This has left most workers feeling defeated with 55 percent believing that they will always be in debt.
All of these statistics have led to a change in how the minimum wage is viewed by employers. Currently, only 5 percent of employers believe that the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is fair. A majority of 67 percent think it needs to be raised to $10 per hour or more, up from 61 percent last year. Fifteen percent say the wage should be raised to $15 or more, up from 11 percent last year.
While employers may feel that $10 or more per hour is fair, 48 percent of those planning to hire minimum wage workers this year will pay less than $10. The largest portion of that group (23 percent) plans to pay between $8 and $9 per hour.
“Fair wages and benefits such as paid sick days are a hot political topic right now, and they’re also on employers’ minds as the public and private sector continue to work to provide good jobs, which will lead to a stronger, more stable workforce, leading ultimately to a healthier economy,” Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer for CareerBuilder said in a release about the study.
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