Freedom and jobs: unemployment a critical issue

Wednesday August 28 was the 50^th anniversary of the March on Washington. More specifically, it was the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” in 1963 when an estimated 250,000 supporters of civil rights marched through The Mall in Washington DC. It was also the day when Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. gave the iconic “I have a dream” speech—the last speech of the day.

Yesterday, the day was commemorated when President Barack Obama, former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and members of Martin Luther King’s family stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC to address thousands who came to remember. Just as it was in 1963, from the beginning of the march at 11 a.m. to the last speech of the day at 3 p.m., the commemorative march commenced with the ringing of a bell and ended with a speech by President Obama at the corresponding times.

The 1963 march was considered a turning point in civil rights in America, leading to the signing of the Civil Rights Act a year later and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Apart from freedom and civil rights, the marchers in 1963 demanded a rise in the minimum wage (from $1.15 to $2 an hour) and the end of racial discrimination in job hiring. It was a time of growing unemployment, as well as under-employment, and job discrimination. The speech-makers of the time called for the right to vote and the end to racial segregation, but they also called for public employment programs to reduce poverty.

I am currently in Washington DC, witnessing the week-long commemorative events, at a time when civil rights—although they have progressed in 50 years—still have a long way to go. Similarly, employment programs still have a long way to go—not just in America, but in many countries, for youth, women, the over 40s, minority groups, and for all.

The United States Census Bureau has released a new study on families and living arrangements. The report reveals that more families have an unemployed parent now than six years ago (The Washington Post, August 28, 2013). One of the most striking statistics of the report is the 33% rise, from 2005 to 2011, in homes with at least one unemployed parent. However the states of California, New Jersey, and Connecticut had increases of more than 60%. In Hawaii, the increase between 2005 and 2011 was 95%, and in Nevada it was 148%.

The Census Bureau also found that from 2005 to 2011 the number of children whose parents owned their own home decreased by 15%. California, Arizona, Michigan, and Ohio had decreases of 20% or more.

However, the differences were greater for different races. More than half of black children –55%--lived in a single-parent household while 31% of Hispanic children lived in a single-parent household. About 21% of white non-Hispanic children lived in single-parent households in 2012, while the rate was 13% for Asian children.

In March 2013, the Urban Institute—a policy research organization in America—found that more than one in six children had an unemployed or under-employed parent last year, down slightly from the peak in 2010. The number of parents who were unemployed for six months or longer tripled between 2010 and 2013.

Researchers of the Urban Institute reported that job loss and long-term unemployment can have a negative impact on children, as well as parents. Parents who are long-term unemployed continue to suffer from permanently lower wages, stilted careers, deterioration of mental and physical health, and higher mortality rates. Parental long-term unemployment can also lead to their children’s poorer school attendance and lower grades.

Hence the right to access and equity of decent jobs, wages, recruitment, and promotion is still an issue worth marching for.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the fastest growing jobs in America to 2020 will be: carpenters (56% growth to 2020), brick masons and tile setters (60% growth), biomedical engineers (62%), home help aides (69%), and personal care aides (71%).  The expected rise in home and personal aides reflects society's need to address the ageing population, and the increase in diseases and illnesses.