Low-wage employment in America: results from a set of recent industry case studies
1 Rutgers University Center for Women and Work, New Brunswick, NJ, 2 Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, New York, 3 Harvard Graduate School of Education/National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA and 4 Russell Sage Foundation, New York, USA
Correspondence: Jeremy A. Weinberg, Russell Sage Foundation, 112 E. 64th Street, New York, NY 10021, USA. E-mail: Jeremy{at}rsage.org
Data from national surveys show the dramatic changes that have taken place in the US wage structure over the past three decades. However, these data provide only very limited information about the complex reasons why those changes have occurred and why there is significant variation in the wages of workers with similar education levels employed in similar industries. Industry case studies, on the other hand, document how firms' responses to economic pressures have affected working conditions, work rules, productivity pressures, skill requirements, and opportunities for training and advancement for workers with less than a 4-year college education. This paper reviews a series of recent case studies on low-wage employment in America funded by the Russell Sage and Rockefeller Foundations, and examines how pressures to cut costs have affected firms' treatment of frontline workers.
Key Words: Wage inequality • low-wage employment • labourmarket institutions • JEL classification: J3, J5, M51, and M54