Study shows
wage gap cause of
worker shortage
"…
due to (Blaine County’s) tourism industry, there are a great deal of
lower paying service occupation and domestic workers not as common to the
rest of Idaho."
Greg
Rogers, Idaho
Department of Labor analyst
By TRAVIS
PURSER
Express Staff Writer
Though
wages are higher in Blaine County than in any other county in Idaho, a
high cost-of-living here means workers are earning on average $7.86 per
hour less than they require, a study by the Idaho Department of Labor
states.
The average
wage for a large range of occupations in Blaine County is $11.60 per hour,
while the "livable wage"—what a family of four needs to
survive here without public assistance and with an ability to plan ahead—is
$19.46 per hour, the report states.
That
so-called "wage gap" between what people earn and what they must
spend means families are relying on dual incomes to survive financially,
and workers are commuting long distances to where they can afford housing,
says Greg Rogers, an Idaho Department of Labor analyst and author of the
report.
Rogers
began studying the issue last year when business owners in the Wood River
Valley called the Department of Labor to find out why they were having
trouble attracting applicants for job vacancies, he said.
In the
four-page report he released last month, Rogers focused on the cost of
living in Blaine County and on the earning ability of workers. The report
was part of a larger study of the six-county Magic Valley area. A second
report that focuses on labor supply is due out in about a week.
Here’s
what Rogers states an average Blaine County family of four needs to spend
each month to live somewhere between luxury and poverty:
-
Three-bedroom
apartment: $947
-
Groceries:
$278
-
Housekeeping
supplies: $60
-
Clothing:
$100
-
Entertainment:
$100
-
Personal
care: $75
-
Energy:
$140
-
Telephone:
$40
-
Gasoline
(50 gallons at $1.626): $81
-
Car
loan payment: $225
-
Medical:
$133
-
Personal
Insurance: $270
-
Miscellaneous:
$150
-
Savings:
$100
To pay for
those costs, a family needs to earn $2,699 a month after taxes or $3,374
before taxes, assuming a 20 percent tax rate.
"This
is an estimate. It’s not gospel," Rogers said. Data for his
"market basket" came from the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development and from his own estimates, he said.
Rogers
acknowledged that Blaine County is "somewhat of a problem" to
study because its cost of living varies greatly from north to south.
Housing values average about $1 million in the Ketchum-Sun Valley area and
$250,000 in Hailey and Bellevue, the report finds.
He also
noted that Blaine County "features somewhat of a paradox in income
levels." In 1999, the county’s per capita income of $41,259 was the
highest in Idaho, which had an overall average of $22,871. Blaine County’s
average hourly wage is about $2 higher than that of the entire Magic
Valley area. "However, due to (Blaine County’s) tourism industry,
there are a great deal of lower paying service occupation and domestic
workers not as common to the rest of Idaho."
For
example, Roger’s list of the 42 most common jobs in Blaine County
includes butlers, who earn an average hourly of $12.96; licensed chefs,
who earn an average hourly of $13.33, and nannies, who earn an average
hourly of $9.18.
Roger’s
said his income numbers came from unemployment claims, the Idaho
Department of Labor Job Service office in Hailey and about 50 interviews
he conducted with employers from Picabo to Sun Valley.
The wage
gap along with a forecast unemployment rate of 3 percent in the county
"makes it difficult to hire service workers because many workers
cannot afford to live in the county and must commute from elsewhere,"
Rogers said.
To solve
the problem, the county will need to provide more affordable housing, and
employers may need to offer signing bonuses and better benefits, he said.