{"id":17149,"date":"2013-05-07T06:15:55","date_gmt":"2013-05-07T12:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/?p=17149"},"modified":"2013-05-14T13:34:53","modified_gmt":"2013-05-14T19:34:53","slug":"bottom-rung-two-idaho-workers-talk-about-life-on-low-wages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/2013\/05\/07\/bottom-rung-two-idaho-workers-talk-about-life-on-low-wages\/","title":{"rendered":"Bottom Rung: Two Idaho Workers Talk About Life On Low Wages"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Molly Messick \/ StateImpact Idaho<\/p>

John was an IT director 10 years ago. Now he spends his workdays behind the register of a Boise store.<\/p><\/div>\n

Wages are lower in Idaho<\/a> than in nearly ever other state.<\/strong> That\u2019s often chalked up to Idaho\u2019s rural nature and low cost of living. But recently, the state has lost ground.<\/p>\n

A federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that Idaho has the\u00a0largest share of workers earning minimum wage in the country<\/a>. And that share — 7.7 percent — has grown rapidly.<\/p>\n

All this week, we’ll explain the trends that are playing out at the bottom of Idaho’s wage scale.\u00a0Today, we’re asking: What is it like to earn minimum wage or close to it in Idaho?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

It can be difficult to find minimum wage earners who are willing to talk to a reporter. Supervisors at fast food chains and retail establishments turned me down. One worker decided against an interview after his boss threatened his job. Finally, I selected a stretch of road in Boise that’s lined with strip malls, restaurants and gas stations, and started talking to people.<\/p>\n\n

<\/strong>Hailey, 19, agreed to answer my question.\u00a0I agreed not to use her last name so that she wouldn’t risk trouble with her employer.<\/p>\n

“Where I work, actually, it’s through a temp agency,” she explains. “We’re never hired on as full-time.”<\/p>\n

Hailey is small, blonde and delicate looking, but she does hard work in the warehouse of a local charitable organization. She unloads trucks filled with donations, and spends a lot of time sorting used clothes. She doesn’t get benefits. Coworkers come and go. She’s stayed for a year, longer than most.<\/p>\n

Asked what her <\/del>salary\u00a0<\/strong>pays for, she lists off the small rent payment she makes to her stepmother, plus groceries, gas, car insurance and her phone bill. Then she explains she also has to pay the costs of drug court. That\u2019s the program she was funneled into more than a year ago, when she was addicted to prescription drugs and committed a felony.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s an amazing program,” Hailey says. “It\u2019s saved my life. But it\u2019s an expensive program, and it\u2019s one I have to pay for on my own.”<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking at a picnic table outside a counseling facility where she attends classes and likes to spend time. I ask what her experience of work, so far, makes her think about work in general.<\/p>\n

“Currently, it\u2019s just a way to get by,” she says. “But what I hope for it to be in the future \u2013 I want to help other people. I want to make a difference. I want to feel like I\u2019ve done something of meaning in this life.”<\/p>\n

She wants to work with kids, and help them avoid what she\u2019s been through. She\u2019d like to start college in January. So far, she\u2019s put away $300.\u00a0She’ll have to keep saving: A single three-credit class at the College of Western Idaho costs $408.<\/p>\n

A Life In Two Paths<\/h3>\n

Hailey\u2019s story is one we might expect to hear in a series about low-wage workers. She\u2019s young and aiming for a better life. But there are other stories, too. John is 52, a tidy dresser with an open smile. He works as a clerk at a small retail shop in Boise. As with Hailey, I agreed to not use John’s last name.<\/p>\n

“My life\u2019s kind of split into two distinct paths,” he says. “One of them was a military path that I did in the reserve components, and I served for 20 years. And the other path I took, on the civilian side, was more in a computer background \u2013 information technology.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bottom Rung: Living On Low Wages In Idaho<\/h4>\n

Part 1: Bottom Rung: Two Idaho Workers Talk About Life On Low Wages<\/p>\n

Infographic: Bottom Rung: Expenses Are Tough To Pay On Idaho’s $7.25 Minimum Wage<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 2: Bottom Rung: Why An Influx Of Retirees To Idaho Is Creating More Low-Wage Jobs<\/a><\/p>\n

Charts: Bottom Rung: Migration By The Numbers<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 3: Bottom Rung: The Workforce Shift That’s Costing Idaho Good-Paying Jobs<\/a><\/p>\n

Chart: Bottom Rung: Construction Jobs Gained And Lost, And Their Place In Idaho\u2019s Economy<\/a><\/p>\n

Bottom Rung: Gov. Otter Touts Idaho’s Low Wages To Attract Gun Companies<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 4: Bottom Rung: Why Building A Strong Idaho Economy Takes Public Investment<\/a><\/p>\n

Chart: Bottom Rung: Idaho\u2019s Expanding Call Center Industry<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 5: Bottom Rung: Why One Idaho Border Business Chose Washington<\/a><\/p>\n

Bottom Rung: The Politics Of Increasing Idaho’s Minimum Wage<\/a><\/p>\n

Two-Way: Bottom Rung: Longtime Idaho Economist Stresses Education And Healthcare To Boost Wages<\/a><\/p>\n

Data: Bottom Rung: Idaho Has More Minimum Wage Workers Than 18 States<\/a><\/p>\n

Background: Making Money In Idaho, A Guide To Wages<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

In 2003, he says, he was an IT director making $80,000 a year. Now, he makes between $7 and $8 an hour, and no benefits. To get by on that, he rents a room in a house. He can\u2019t afford a car, so he rides his bike, or takes the bus.<\/p>\n

John tells me he wound up in this position over the course of a decade. He <\/strong>was laid off, but got work with a web development company. When the recession hit, he was laid off again. He was already in debt. Before long, he lost his home and filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

John says he\u2019s not unhappy; he says he\u2019s on a “Zen-like journey.” But he\u2019s realistic.<\/p>\n

“If you\u2019re working just to make ends meet, there is no real quality of life,” he says. “You\u2019re working to satisfy some debt of some sort. It\u2019s not an environment that lends itself to optimism, because you\u2019re constantly worried about keeping your job and just making a living.”<\/p>\n

John says his financial situation affects everything, even the friends he makes. “We call ourselves ‘the working poor,’ for lack of a better term,” he says, with a resigned laugh. That’s his social circle now, he tells me, not the “management types” he used to know.<\/p>\n

“It changes,” he says. It’s a succinct description of life as he sees it.<\/p>\n

His thinking has changed, too. He worries, now more than ever before, about the gap between people who have money and people who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

“This imbalance that\u2019s keeping people poor, it\u2019s only going to go so far!” he exclaims. “You can only stretch that rubber band so far, and something\u2019s going to snap!”<\/p>\n

For John, there are better days ahead.\u00a0 When he turns 60, he’ll start receiving his military retirement. He daydreams about moving to South America, and living better on less. But most low-wage workers don’t have that reprieve.<\/p>\n

Over the next few days, we\u2019ll ask: \u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0 Why does Idaho have so many low-wage jobs? At least in part, the answers lie in Idaho\u2019s shifting demographics<\/a>, economic base\u00a0and policy priorities.<\/p>\n

When we checked in with John recently, he told us he\u2019s been promoted to assistant manager.\u00a0 That will mean $150 more in monthly income, and vacation benefits.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wages are lower in Idaho than in nearly ever other state. That\u2019s often chalked up to Idaho\u2019s rural nature and low cost of living. But recently, the state has lost ground. A federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that Idaho has the\u00a0largest share of workers earning minimum wage in the country. And that share […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":17170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[230,229,143],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17149"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17201,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17149\/revisions\/17201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/idaho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}