Shannon's Window: Getting by is getting harder


  • December 27, 2015
  • /   Shannon Nickinson
  • /   community-dashboard,economy

Photo credit: Florian Plag. https://www.flickr.com/photos/27351191@N08/6261086405

In Escambia County, minimum wage jobs aren’t just for kids.

And that is part of the reason this metro area lags behind others in the state in terms of prosperity.

That’s according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, shared by the UWF Office of Economic Development and Engagement.

About 1 of every 5 jobs (23.6 percent) in Escambia County pays minimum wage, the data shows.

Which means that 39,247 of our neighbors get by on $1,250 a month — 16,135 of them are 29 or younger, and 15,998 are between 30 and 54.

That’s the prime time for raising families and building up your own nest egg. Something that is next to impossible on $1,250 a month. It also relates to a recent Pew Research Center survey that found the middle class is being hollowed out, a trend that began in the 1970s.

Florida’s minimum wage is $8.05; for tipped workers it is $5.03.

Retail, accommodations and food service are the lion’s share of Escambia County's minimum wage jobs — 19,282 in total. Health care and social assistance are another 4,386.

As many have no high school diploma as have a bachelor’s degree or higher (10 percent each).

Most have a diploma (19.4 percent); 18.3 percent have some college up to or including an associate’s degree.

In the last 15 years in the Pensacola metro area, four industries have seen some of the largest percentage increase: administrative and support jobs; arts, recreation and entertainment; accommodation and food services.

Accommodation and food services alone have seen a 36 percent increase from 2001 to 2015. And it is an even money bet that many of those jobs fall into the minimum wage family — which comes out to about $15,000.

{{business_name}}Job charts Escambia 10-9-2015

It is a sin to handicap a big swath of young people with job opportunities in the low-wage service sector.

But think of what it says about our economy when 41 percent of the people in minimum wage jobs are in the prime of their working lives.

On the campaign trail

Rick Santorum is the only Republican presidential candidate who would raise the federal minimum wage — and even that is only 50 cents a year for three years.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has spoken in favor of the $12 minimum wage; candidates Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley both say they favor the $15-hourly minimum wage.

It could go a long way toward explaining why, for example, 66 percent of the children in Escambia County schools qualify for free or reduced-price lunch as of this school year.

That figure is part of the Studer Community Institute's Pensacola Metro Dashboard, a set of 16 data points, developed with the University of West Florida to gauge the economic, educational and social well-being of the community. 

Those income guidelines, in case you’re curious, are:

— $26,117 a year for a family of three for free lunch.

— $37,167 a year for a family of three for reduced-price lunch.

The federal poverty line for a family of three is $20,090 a year — short of what one minimum wage job will net you.

Saving money for retirement, saving money for anything in that circumstance is nowhere near the radar.

At that level, it’s about getting by.

Your items have been added to the shopping cart. The shopping cart modal has opened and here you can review items in your cart before going to checkout