Amid recovery, NC's low-wage workers are struggling

by Ned Barnett, News and Observer, July 19, 2014.

One way to see how the economy is really doing is to see it from the perspective of ministries that help people who are having a financial crisis.

These are not homeless shelters serving the permanent poor, the addicted, the abused and the mentally ill. The two ministries I spoke with last week serve people who are straining to pay basic bills and then get hit with medical problems or a layoff or a family situation. These people are the weather vanes of the economy, their fates swinging with the trends in employment and wages.

Denise Crumpler, executive director of North Raleigh Ministries, says the economic storm that hit in 2008 and lingers to this day is abating, but there are still plenty of people in need, even in the suburban areas of North Raleigh. Crumpler said 25 percent of the 5,000 people her organization serves are, or used to be, middle class.

Those people who had decent jobs and a measure of financial security were especially hurt because they did not know how or where to find help once they lost their jobs and couldn’t find another.

“Previously, secure middle class people had never had a need that we could fulfill. They don’t know we’re here so they use all their savings before they find us,” she said. “It’s sad. We’ve seen people who used their college funds.”

One sign of a recovering economy is that those who do have are giving more. The ministry used to run out food in February, but this year, Crumpler said, “The donations have been phenomenal.”

In those who pass through North Raleigh Ministries, Crumpler sees a shift from dire need in the depths of the recession to a desperate coping.

“More people are being underemployed because people have taken whatever jobs they can get,” she said. In some cases, especially for older workers, Crumpler said, being underemployed is a double burden because the pay is lower than what the person previously earned and the physical demands are often higher.

In Cary at Dorcas Ministries, Jill Straight, the ministry’s outreach programs manager, told a similar story. She arrived at Dorcas just as the economy collapsed in 2008 and has watched the recession and its aftermath play out in the lives of the 12,000 people Dorcas serves in Cary and Morrisville.

There was a surge in previously middle-income earners needing emergency help, but that group is shrinking, Straight said. She presumes they found work or moved. She’s not sure. What she is sure of is that those on the next few rungs down the economic ladder are having a difficult time.

“What I’m seeing is that the working poor are struggling harder than ever,” she said.

What’s causing the most harm, Straight said, is employers cutting back hours so that workers don’t qualify for full-time benefits, especially health insurance. That trend, combined with the state of North Carolina’s refusal to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, has left many working poor in a bind. They’re low-income but don’t have small children so they don’t qualify for Medicaid. And they don’t earn enough to qualify to buy health insurance through the federal exchange.

“The most distressing thing in terms of the long-term impact from the recent recession is the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid,” Straight said.

Asked what would most help the people she serves, Straight said, “An increase in the minimum wage and an expansion of Medicaid.”

Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia did expand Medicaid, and the enrollment of millions of previously unqualified working poor people has contributed to a substantial drop in the number of uninsured Americans. And states and local governments have moved on their own to raise the minimum wage. North Carolina is unlikely to do the former and almost certain to oppose the latter so long as Republicans control the General Assembly.

The effects of that inaction can be seen even in ministries that serve generally affluent areas of the state. The economy is recovering, but some are caught in a grind of underemployment, no health insurance or both.

These hardworking but desperately struggling people are being treated like they don’t exist by legislative leaders and Gov. Pat McCrory. There is no urgency to help them get or keep health insurance. There were even proposals from the state Senate to tighten Medicaid eligibility and eliminate the jobs of 7,400 low-paid teacher assistants.

Still, state leaders applaud what they’re doing for the state’s economy and all the jobs – many of them low-paying and part-time or without benefits – their combination of tax cuts and spending austerity is creating. With leaders like these, it’s a good thing North Carolina also has servants like North Raleigh Ministries, Dorcas Ministries and all those around the state who care for those battered by the storm.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/07/19/4014728/amid-recovery-ncs-low-wage-workers.html?sp=/99/108/