Thread: Wages fall as immigration grows

USC STUDY
Wages fall as immigration grows
Drop in pay greater for Hispanics than others

NOELLE PHILLIPS
The (Columbia) State
http://www.charlotte.com/280/story/260803.html

As South Carolina's Hispanic population has grown, one measurement of wages for all workers has dropped, a University of South Carolina study released last week found.

While study authors would not attribute all of the drop to immigration, their findings were similar to research done elsewhere.

The S.C. median annual wage, adjusted for inflation, dropped 3.1 percent to $28,039 between 2000 and 2005, a period when the state experienced rapid growth in its Hispanic population. The median is the midpoint at which half of all salaries would be above that figure and half below.

Pay in construction, the dominant field for Hispanics, slipped 5 percent for all S.C. workers during what was a record housing boom. Construction wages for Hispanics fell by more than twice that.

"When an industry is booming like this, you expect to see wages increase, not decline like this," said Doug Woodward, a research economist at the USC Moore School of Business. Woodward wrote the study with Elaine Lacy of the USC Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies.

Woodward said the study supported the notion that Hispanic workers were willing to take less desirable jobs, such as slaughtering chickens or roofing during hot S.C. summers, for lower wages.

"What we're doing here in South Carolina is importing cheap labor to our economy," Woodward said.

However, Woodward did not tie the wage decrease to the Hispanic population, which makes up 3.3 percent of S.C.'s 4.1 million residents. He also cited the state's higher-than-average level of workers who do not have a high school or college diploma.

The report, based on surveys of 503 Hispanics and examination of federal and S.C. population data, is the first comprehensive examination of the state's fastest-growing population.

While survey respondents were not asked about their legal status, the study aimed to add facts to what often has been an emotional immigration debate, the authors said.

"It's very important, before we consider any legislation or before we make any change on how to handle this population" that we get the facts, Woodward said.

Study findings were released during the S.C. Minority Affairs Commission's 2007 Statewide Conference on Hispanic/Latino Issues. The commission, a state agency, funded the report.

The majority of S.C. Hispanics are Mexican and male and have lived in the state less than five years.

S.C. Hispanics worked mostly in construction, animal slaughtering and landscaping, the study found.

Hispanic construction employment between 2000 and 2005 nearly doubled, while wages dropped 12.1 percent for those workers.

Hispanic construction workers were paid $10,600 a year less than the state average when adjusted for inflation, the USC survey found.

Also examined was Hispanics' impact on the state's education and health systems and social services.

Lacy said 3.7 percent of South Carolina's nearly 700,000 public school students are Hispanic. In health care, 74 percent of Hispanics did not have health insurance, though they reported they rarely visited doctors or hospitals.

"At this point in time, there doesn't appear to be an undue burden on our state from the rising Latino population," Woodward said.

Hispanic Immigrants in S.C.

135,041 - Census estimate of Hispanics living in the state.

62% - S.C. Hispanics of Mexican origin.

4.8 - years Average stay in South Carolina.

65% - Hispanic immigrants who are male.

5.1 people - Size of average Hispanic household.

75% - Hispanics who don't speak English or who say their English skills are poor.


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SOURCE: USC Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies survey

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Wages fall as immigration grows

It isn't an accident folks, it's someone [else's] plan.

As Dobbs correctly states, it's "War on the Middle Class" (and working/blue-collar workers too).

South Carolina's Republican Party 2008 presidential primary is Jan. 19, 2008. We can make a huge statement for our cause by voting Lindsey Graham out at this early stage.

Link to South Carolina's election laws.

http://www.scstatehouse.net/code/t07c013.htm

Zeezil

You already posted this story
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=80587&hig hlight=phillips

Illegals = Dilution and Pollution.

Of course they are diluting the wages of Americans! Econonomics 101 - supply/demand!

And don't even get me started on pollution!

Originally Posted by jimpasz

Zeezil

You already posted this story
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=80587&hig hlight=phillips

Since no one has responded to the first post I'm going to just delete it.
Thanks jim!