The 10 worst jobs in America

An interesting article by CBS News Marketwatch program discussed a recent report by two progressive think tanks. The study had the good sense to provide a handy hook, the “Ten Worst Jobs in America.” The real meat of the report is that the number of bad jobs has been increasing.

Models are paid millions to twirl in the latest bra and panty set. Right? Nope — not unless they are one of an extremely small (and beautiful) handful of young women.
Last year, models made a median hourly wage of $11.22, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a bit less than twice the minimum wage of $5.85. Not so glamorous.
“Most models take other jobs. They’re waiters. It gives them the flexibility to go to model calls and auditions,” said Ean Williams, executive director of DC Fashion Week, a designer showcase held twice a year in the nation’s capital. “There are a lot of people that are very beautiful, very talented, that don’t make it in the business.”

The young and beautiful aren’t the only ones working like dogs and earning peanuts. In fact, models, demonstrators and product promoters rank No. 8 on a new list of the 10 worst jobs in America.

Who gets the shortest end of the stick? Coffee shop hosts and cafeteria counter attendants, according to a report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts.

Eighty-seven percent of restaurant-host and counter-attendant jobs were categorized as “bad,” meaning they paid less than the median wage in 1979, adjusted for inflation, and had neither employer-sponsored health insurance nor a retirement plan. That translates to a wage today of $16.50 an hour or $34,320 per year for a full-time, full-year worker, according to the report.
About 79% of jobs in the models, demonstrators, and product promoters category are bad, according to the report, which covers 2003 through 2005 using Census Bureau data.
John Schmitt, a senior economist with CEPR, said the categories heavily composed of bad jobs haven’t improved in recent years.

<SNIP>
Yet for each top bad occupation, most of the workers are above 20 years of age. For example, among wait staff, almost 17% are 16- to 19-years-old, 33% are between 20 and 24, and 50% are between 25 and 64, according to CEPR’s Schmitt.
Lifeguards and other protective-service workers comprise the occupation category with the highest proportion of teenagers, reaching almost 48%.
“Teenagers are an important part of some of the occupations, but in no case are they the majority of workers in the occupation,” Schmitt said. “In most cases, teenagers are only a fairly small share of total employment.”
1.
Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop — 87.0% bad jobs
2.
Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop — 87.0%
3.
Ushers, lobby attendants, and ticket takers — 85.4%
4.
Fabric and apparel patternmakers — 82.2%
5.
Lifeguards and other protective-service workers — 81.6%
6.
Waiters and waitresses — 80.4%
7.
Tour and travel guides — 79.4%
8.
Models, demonstrators, and product promoters — 79.2%
9.
Dishwashers — 78.8%
10.
Motion picture projectionists — 78.1%