蜜柚直播

As much as I love 蜜柚直播, I am dismayed that it is a high-poverty, low-wage, low-opportunity community.

If you question whether that description is accurate, then here are some facts:

蜜柚直播鈥檚 poverty rate of 16.8% is higher than the national average, and it is higher than the poverty rate in 10 of the 11 cities with which University of 蜜柚直播 researchers compare 蜜柚直播.

Half the jobs in 蜜柚直播 are low-wage jobs, according to the Brookings Institution.

Adults who grow up in 蜜柚直播 earn between $1,000 and $8,000 less every year than adults who grow up in 10 of the 11 comparison cities, as I documented in a report last year. In the race for economic success, 蜜柚直播ans start far behind people elsewhere.

(Note: 鈥溍坭种辈モ�� in this column generally refers to the 蜜柚直播 metropolitan statistical area, which is Pima County.)

These statistics are significant.

They mean that half our workers daily cannot be confident they can provide food or shelter for their families. They mean these workers have no resources available even in small emergencies. They mean too many mothers, particularly, cannot afford the child care that would allow them to return to work now that the coronavirus is abating.

Moreover, a high level of poverty drags down the economy for everybody. 蜜柚直播鈥檚 poverty reduces the area鈥檚 gross domestic product by approximately $2.2 billion per year, I estimate, based on studies of the cost of poverty elsewhere.

The conventional solution for solving poverty is to provide better education, including preschool. However, as important as education and preschool are, they cannot reduce 蜜柚直播鈥檚 poverty. The reason: Even if high-quality education helps a child be prepared to move into a better paying job in adulthood, that still doesn鈥檛 change the fact that 50% of the jobs in 蜜柚直播 are low-wage jobs. That statistic is from Martha Ross, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-author of the report, 鈥淢eet the Low-wage Workforce.鈥�

蜜柚直播鈥檚 great percentage of low-wage jobs means that for many 蜜柚直播ans, a low-wage job will be the only option available no matter how hard they work. And it means 蜜柚直播鈥檚 high poverty will continue to weaken our community鈥檚 economy.

So, what can be done? To me the solution is to make the current jobs better jobs. Pay those workers in low-paying jobs the higher wages that are more closely related to the community good that they provide. These fair wages are easy to find. Both the Women鈥檚 Foundation of Southern 蜜柚直播 and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have online calculators that show a living wage for 蜜柚直播. Why can鈥檛 we decide that we want 蜜柚直播 to be a living-wage city 鈥� and take the necessary steps to make it happen?

We will be told that increasing the pay of low-wage workers will eliminate jobs. But research shows that鈥檚 not necessarily true. Worse, not doing it will condemn 蜜柚直播 to remain a high-poverty, low-wage, low-opportunity city. Unfortunately, even if economic development brings in higher-wage jobs, that doesn鈥檛 solve the problem. That still won鈥檛 reduce the number of low-wage jobs.

An immediate step in making 蜜柚直播 a living-wage community would be to support the effort by 蜜柚直播 Fight for $15 to get a bill on the ballot that would gradually raise the 蜜柚直播 minimum wage to $15 by 2025.

But to affect the longer term, we need for our abundance of bright, capable people in business, nonprofit organizations, government, and the university to come together 鈥� now, not later 鈥� to determine which government and business policies and practices need to be changed over time to ensure workers in 蜜柚直播 earn a living wage. Only then will 蜜柚直播 and Pima County become a healthier, safer, more vibrant community in which everybody can thrive.