THE MIDDLE CLASS is being squeezed more and more. Stagnating wages, outsourcing of government jobs and fewer employer-sponsored benefits in the face of ballooning medical costs have put them under attack.

So says Laura Paskin, communications director of the Economic Opportunity Institute. She outlined the situation in a talk at the annual Fall Local Presidents’ Conference held in Wenatchee on September 30 and October 1.

Laura Paskin speaks at Local Presidents' conference

“We have been moving away from economic security and opportunity, with attacks on wages and benefits and diminishing public services,” Paskin said. “The financial burden is moving from employers, both public and private, to workers.”
Paskin told the attendees that one of the basic ways to assist the middle class is education.

“We need a high-quality workforce with economic security for families,” she said.

Good programs are anchored in family and work, she added. Work gives us an income, defines our role in society and gives us a voice. Yet over the last five years job growth in Washington State at 83,000 has not kept pace with population growth, which needed 167,000 jobs to have been added.

Relatively more not-so-good jobs — in fields such as health services, leisure, hospitality and retail trade — are being added than good jobs — in fields such as finance and insurance, manufacturing and professional services, Paskin explained.

Median wages increased sharply over the last five years for the highest paid, but were relatively flat for median and lower paid workers. More than 40 percent of workers lack paid sick leave.
Employees are paying more for health insurance, Paskin said. Pension coverage, which is moving from defined benefit to defined contribution, is decreasing.

Other presentations at the conference were given by: Council 2 President/Executive Director Chris Dugovich, State Auditor Brian Sonntag, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon and Council 2 General Counsel Audrey Eide.

View the slide show presented by Paskin