Looking Squarely at Wages

originally published April 11, 2007

More than 1000 Athenians crowded into the Classic Center on Mar. 19 for the unveiling of Partners for a Prosperous Athens’ (PPA) final set of 10 initiatives. Having attended nearly a year’s worth of meetings, I was surprised to find the final proposals lacking any mention of raising wages for existing jobs. Talk of wages was relegated to an ambiguous and non-binding “statement of support” document.

I was left with the impression that PPA was less interested in removing families from poverty than providing a bit of comfort for families who were to remain there. This is certainly a noble goal, and I wish it success. It will do very little, however, to remedy the poverty problem in Athens, the problem for which the PPA was convened.

I have often wondered to what degree the conveners of Partners for a Prosperous Athens foresaw the necessary conditions of its success. How permanent and structural did they imagine the causes of Athens’ poverty to be? I am worried that the recalcitrant facts of our economy, while understood by some, might have eluded the foresight of PPA’s conveners and community participants.  An honest analysis of Athens’ economy reveals a rather discomfiting economic structure that, in order to function recognizably, requires a poverty rate little less than our own.

Mend the Structure

I offer this to my fellow members of PPA: that the degree to which we are able to alleviate poverty in Athens will be the degree to which we mend the economic structure which produces the poverty. Please do not take this for only a facile claim of little consequence; the success of our efforts depends absolutely on a truly honest examination of the problem.

An unlikely pairing of high poverty and low unemployment defines the dilemma of Athens’ economy. The favorite claim of many, that the slothful poor are to be blamed, does not apply in our case. Athens has been known to enjoy unemployment rates a full two points below state and federal levels. Yet our poverty rate ranks in the country’s top 10 among counties our size. We are an exceptionally employed county, and yet we are simultaneously an exceptionally poor county. It doesn’t take an economist to figure it out; the working poor of Athens aren’t paid enough. Why might this be?

A particular economy develops to complement a major public university. Granting an ever-diminishing number of exceptions, the student body is an army of super-consumers whose supply lines are kept wide open by the ample pocketbooks of their suburban home bases. Retail, food and service sectors thrive in the university-oriented economy. This economic phenomenon is observable in many college towns of our size. Common to Athens are fast-food restaurants, “big box” retailers and hotels. One also finds an abundance of supermarkets, smaller retailers, movie theaters and table service or “sit-down” restaurants. This is the reality of the Athens economy.

Needs of a Campus Economy

There is little debate as to the University’s role in Athens’ poverty dilemma. UGA is the largest employer in the county by some thousands, and its remarkably low pay defines the ceiling for area-wide wages. President Adams himself confesses that a living wage for campus workers is “the right thing to do.” Under Adams’ management, the University has raised wages significantly, but hundreds of campus workers remain in poverty.  A living wage - or “family supportive” wage as it is called by some - at the University was likely foreseen by PPA’s conveners as a necessary step. While raising wages at UGA will certainly be a significant assault on Athens’ poverty problem, it is likely the easiest of the necessary steps toward the Athens we desire.

Even the PPA’s rosiest vision of the future is periled by a massive poverty rate. Imagine a scenario in which the group’s hopeful proposals for “soft skill” and career-training education are a smashing success. Suddenly, all of Athens’ poor exhibit the charm and manner of Madison Avenue CEOs. Problem solved, right?

Unfortunately, University students still like hamburgers and blue jeans. Alps Road is still a choked scene of frenzied spending. The Eastside still combusts with commerce. The laws of supply and demand are hard at work; students demand service that the workforce must supply in the way of low-wage jobs. Where are Athens’ poor? As we’ve seen, they’re certainly working; Athens’ employment rates regularly swing from full to brimming. The poor are scanning and bagging students’ groceries. They’re standing over fryers at any of the dozens of fast-food restaurants. They’re mowing the grass. They’re blowing leaves. They’re cleaning restrooms. They are serving the needs of a campus economy.

An abundance of blame-the-poor mentality found its way into PPA discourse and, thus, into much of the language of the group’s initiatives. At many meetings, the group seemed more like a Partnership of Prosperous Athenians than a poverty fighting organization. The chain of causality leading to poverty was oftentimes reversed. “If only the poor could get their act together,” seemed to be the sentiment of the many members of PPA. In this way, members of PPA loaded the poor with a double burden: both the burden of poverty and the undue burden of guilt for their economic plight. Little notice was paid to the structural realities that currently necessitate a vast poverty class in Athens. The elephant in the room was not pink, but red and black, and it afforded little room for effective discussion.

The Jobs Will Always Exist

The truth is in the numbers. According to Georgia and federal statistics, service sector jobs make up 54.9 percent of the Athens-Clarke County workforce, or 34,037 workers. This single statistic almost accounts for our poverty problem. Using only two categories from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Employment and Wages, accommodation and food services, one can measure the sort of income depression that marks economies of our type. The two categories account for 10.2 percent of the total workforce while only distributing 3.5 percent of the county’s total income.

Without fundamental change, the low-wage jobs will always exist. The positions will remain regardless of expansions of bus service, career training, or any of the current PPA proposals for change. Given the rate of expansion both on campus and off, it is likely that the number of low-wage jobs attendant to such expansion will increase as well. Like it or not, this is our economic cross to bear. Or is it our challenge to overcome?

I cannot figure out whether it is the optimist or the pessimist in me that understands the nature of Athens’ economic woes. Is it the optimist who sees with clear eyes the full dimension of the problem, and, thus, can embark toward solution? Or, am I sunk in pessimism? Have I only made a rude meeting with the intractable facts of my fellow citizens’ misfortune?

It would certainly be more comforting to ignore these more obvious aspects of the local economy. Some ease their minds with the promise of economic Band-Aids to patch the deep gash in the gut of the Athens economy. This may prove to be a dangerous sort of dishonesty. To imagine the road as smoother than it is can land you with busted struts not far from where you started.

I urge members of PPA and the wider Athens community to look squarely and honestly at our economic problems. I admit that the dilemma becomes a menace upon this closer scrutiny. It would be a shame, however, to watch our best intentions devolve into an ostrich’s folly of denial. Whether viewed as a matter of moral imperative or civic image, Athens’ poverty is a mark of ignominy. The question remains, what are going to do to fix it?

Matthew Pulver

Matthew Pulver is a recent UGA graduate who served on the Partners for a Prosperous Athens “livable wage” citizen subcommittee.