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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, October 10, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 24, 2004 Low wages, high rent don’t mix Group reports competition for living wage jobs is fierce while housing costs continue to rise By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune In a state where living wage jobs are hard to come by, local workers find themselves in an even tighter bind with some of the highest home rental costs in Oregon. That’s the report from the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, released Thursday. "It again puts the creation of living wage jobs at the center of our political discussions," said Rich Rohde of Rogue Valley Oregon Action. The report says every adult seeking employment in Oregon must compete with six others for one living wage job. That job deficit is compounded locally by rental costs that are the highest outside the Portland metropolitan area. The report, titled "Searching for Work that Pays: 2004 Northwest Job Gap Study," was released outside the Medford Food 4 Less store on Biddle Road Thursday. Rohde said the location was selected because the company pays living wage jobs and is a model employer. Advertisement Medford resident Bob Sutton shops regularly at Food 4 Less, and says owner Sherm Olsrud has contributed a lot to the Medford area. "I think he’s the man that is showing the whole community what can be done," said Sutton. Sherm and Wanda Olsrud also own three Sherm’s Thunderbird markets in Medford, Roseburg and Klamath Falls. "Food 4 Less is a leader in the community," said Ken Spray of Tigard, union representative for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555. Spray said there are more than 200 union employees at Food 4 Less. Rohde said for the local economy to be self-sustaining, more employers need to provide living wage jobs, so workers don’t need to rely on taxpayers for food stamps, subsidized housing and health care. The job gap study determined that single workers in Oregon must earn $10.17 an hour to adequately support themselves.In Oregon the minimum wage is $7.05, higher than the $5.15 federal minimum wage. A living wage is a wage that allows families to meet their basic needs (housing, food, taxes) without public assistance and provides them some ability to deal with emergencies and plan ahead. According to the report, 34 percent of the jobs in Oregon do not pay enough for single people to support themselves. Findings are based on data on job openings, wages and employment from 2002. Northwest Federation of Community Organizations is a regional federation of social activist organizations in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, including Oregon Action. Rohde said the report is significant because it’s based on a measured level of family expenses — using statistics gathered from a variety of reputable sources, including the Census — andnot just an estimated level of family expenses. The study also concluded that for each job opening that pays at least the $10.17 an hour living wage for a single adult, there are six job seekers on average. For each job opening that pays at least $21.44 an hour (the living wage for a single adult with two children) there are 24 job seekers on average. With one-bedroom housing averaging $467 for a single adult and two-bedroom averaging $624 for households with two or more people, Jackson County is in the top third of rental costs in the state. "Basically, outside of the metro area, we’re the highest county," said Rohde. He said the cost cannot be attributed to Ashland’s high rate, he said, because Ashland’s rate is driving up all the other cities’ rates, too. "If you took out Ashland, you’d still have a high-cost area," he said. For a copy of the report, see www.nwfco.org on the Web. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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