What
Do You Know About
Working Ohio in
the year 2000?
All numbers are adjusted for
inflation to year 2000 dollars.
1.
True or False: The average family in Ohio has added 4 weeks to its work
year since 1979.
False.
In fact, they’ve added 12 weeks—over 500 hours of work—since 1979.
True.
Much worse. The richest 5 percent of families in Ohio made 16.6 times
the poorest 20 percent in 2000. In 1978, they had made only 9.4 times
as much. Inequality between these groups has almost doubled in the
past twenty years.
False.
Women’s wages have grown by 9.6 percent, but the typical Ohio woman made
an hourly wage of $10.80 in 2000, roughly 75 percent of the male median
wage of $14.64.
False.
Black men’s wages dropped by 23.7 percent between 1979 and 2000.
White men’s wages fell by 7.9 percent.
True.
Black workers with the same education made between 5.5 and 12 percent less
than white workers at every level of education.
False.
Ohio workers with a high school degree made a median wage of $11.00 per
hour in 2000, $1.78 less than the median wage of a high school graduate
in 1979.
False.
In 1999, 14 percent fewer women than men, and 7 percent fewer black than
white workers received benefits from their private sector employers. Only
65 percent of Ohio workers got health benefits from their jobs in 1999,
down from 77 percent in 1979.
True.
In 2000, wages for black workers with a high school degree were 38 percent
higher than those without a degree. White high school graduates enjoyed
a similar 40 percent wage hike. A college degree boosted wages by
65 percent for black workers, and by 57 percent for white workers.
True.
Almost entirely. Though non-union black workers made an average of
18.7 percent less than non-union white workers, unionized black workers
made only 1.9 percent less in 2000. The median unionized African
American worker in Ohio made $4.71 an hour more than the median black worker
not in a union. Unionized white workers received an additional $2.70
an hour compared to non-union white workers.
False:
they don’t disappear altogether, but they do decrease. In 2000, non-union
women made 26.8 percent less than union-union men, while union women made
15.9 percent less than union men. Wages for unionized women increased
by 23.8 percent, around $3.21 an hour, and unionized men received a $2.00
an hour increase.
Extra
Credit
The 23 percent
of Ohio workers earning below a poverty wage* are mostly part-time employees.
False.
61.3 percent of those making below poverty level wages in 1999 worked full-time.
* A poverty wage is defined as the
amount needed to bring a family of four to the federally-defined poverty
level with one full-time, year-round worker. In the year 2000, that wage
was $8.47 an hour.
2. Even though wages
increased for low-income families in the late 1990’s, inequality between
the richest and poorest families in Ohio is getting worse.
3.
Women’s wages have increased enough in the past 20 years to match male
wages.
4.
With enforcement of discrimination laws and affirmative action, black men
have seen a healthy increase in their hourly wages in Ohio.
5.
In 2000, black workers in Ohio made less than white workers at every level
of education.
6.
In 2000, Ohio’s high school graduates could expect to earn higher wages
than high school graduates did in 1979.
7.
Male and female, and black and white workers enjoy an equal distribution
of health benefits in Ohio.
8.
Educational achievement increases wages, especially for African American
workers.
9.
In unionized workplaces, wage gaps between black and white workers disappear.
10.
In unionized workplaces, wage gaps between male and female workers disappear.