As CEO Pay Soars, Many New Jobs Fail To Provide A Living Wage

Despite a falling unemployment rate and encouraging signs of a healing economy, a new report suggests America is not adding the right kind of jobs.  Most newly-created jobs don't pay enough to meet even the most basic of needs, according to a report released by Wider Opportunities for Women on Friday.   The report came as a USA Today study found CEO pay climbing back to pre-recession levels. In data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate inched down to8.8 percent from 8.9 percent.

But with wages virtually static, job creation modest and the cost gas and energy rising, the timing couldn't be worse for low-wage workers, who are bearing the brunt of the recession that has seen state and federal governments slash their safety nets in the name of deficit reduction.

Single workers need almost twice the federal minimum wage to cover their basic expenses -- just over $30,000 a year -- according to the report by Wider Opportunities for Women.

Single parents, meanwhile, need almost $58,000 to meet the most basic needs of two children, and two-income households require roughly $68,000, the report found. Many new jobs being created will not pay wages that offer that level of economic security, and most workers without a four-year college degree will not have access to the jobs that do, according to the reports authors.

"Too few American families are living in economically secure households, with most workers unable to stretch their incomes over basic expenses and savings," Joan Kuriansky, executive director of WOW said in a statement. "The American Dream of working hard to support your family is being rewritten by the growth of low paying industries and rising expenses."

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