Indicator: 42 - Jobs That Pay a Livable Wage

Why This Is Important

If people are not earning a high enough wage to support themselves and their non-income earning dependents (such as children, spouses, or elders), they must either live without some basic necessities or they must depend on some type of public assistance. Each of those alternatives has a negative impact on the economy. Jobs that pay below a livable wage, on balance, are not likely contributing to economic growth, and they ultimately result in higher taxes for Maine businesses and citizens.

Where We Stand

In 2000, about 67% of all jobs in Maine paid what the Maine Economic Growth Council considers to be an annual livable wage for that year ($20,792 for a family of two). This percentage has remained basically unchanged since 1996.

Data Sources and Context

The data for this indicator comes from the Maine Economic Growth Council's Measures of Growth 2002, which is prepared by the Maine Development Foundation. The Foundation developed the data by analyzing Maine Department of Labor data. This performance measure considers a livable wage to be 85% above the poverty line (established by the U.S. Department of Labor) wage for a family of two. In this way, it is directly related to the number of Maine people living in poverty. The family size of two was chosen because roughly half of all Maine people are employed (each job in Maine supports roughly two people). The number of livable-wage jobs is calculated by looking at the average annual wages paid in each Maine industry (451 of them defined by a 3-digit Standard Industrial Code) and simply adding up the number of jobs in those industries that pay above the livable wage. This number is then divided into the total number of jobs to arrive at the percentage of jobs that pay a livable wage. The data is available on-line at http://www.mdf.org.