CWCT campaign for a working connecticut

CWCT continues to focus efforts on alligning the skills of Connecticut's workforce to its job opportunities.

Fact Sheet

Out of the nine million working families in the US who are considered low-income, 27% are officially living in poverty .

• One fifth of all jobs in the United States do not provide enough annual compensation to keep a family of four above the poverty level.
• Seventy-one percent of low-income families work an average of 2,500 hours per year, which equals 1.2 full-time jobs.
• Over the past 30 years, workers in the United States who do not hold a high school degree have experienced an 18.5 percent decline in their wages.
  

Many of Connecticut ’s residents are not prepared for the workforce or prepared to move beyond entry-level employment.

• Thirty-two percent of employers report that poor reading and writing skills are among the most serious skill deficiencies of current hourly production employees.
• Twenty-nine percent of Connecticut residents lack a postsecondary education.
• Forty percent of Connecticut adults lack adequate literacy skills to function effectively in the workplace.
• Thirty-seven percent of adults in the Jobs First Employment Services (JFES) program lack a high school diploma.
• Students enrolled in the state’s Adult Basic Education system represent only 7.6% of the adults in the state without a high school diploma.
  

Connecticut must invest in its workforce to ensure its own long-term economic success.

• Twenty-four percent of respondents to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association’s 2007 Survey of Connecticut Businesses stated that availability of skilled workers was a major concern facing their business within the next five years.
• Connecticut currently spends only $0.16 per person on incumbent worker training. By contrast, Massachusetts invests $6.54 and Rhode Island $16.93 per worker.
  

Connecticut must advance the skills of its workforce to bridge the wage gap.

• An individual needs to earn $19.30 an hour (or hold 2.5 full time minimum wage jobs) to afford a two bedroom apartment in Connecticut.
• In 2006, 16.8% of CT workers earned a poverty wage of $9.91/hour (the federal poverty level for a family of four for a full time year round worker).
• Nearly half of Connecticut occupations do not provide an income sufficient to afford a modest two bedroom apartment.
• information from The Sloan Work and Family Research Network