Letter to NY Times in response to oped on those stuck in part-time jobs

[June Zaccone]

Congratulations to Adelle Waldman and Matt Bruenig for calling attention to the plight of millions of Americans who are stuck in part-time jobs. In February, 4.4 million Americans were working part-time because they couldn't find full-time work. Had the Department of Labor counted these involuntary part-timers as unemployed, the number officially  unemployed would have jumped from 7.6 million to 12.0 million people, a 58% increase.  And how about the number of people who have full-time,  year-round work but earn less than the four-person poverty standard--16.3 million men and women in 2023, when the poverty standard was $31,200 for a family of four (latest  figures available)?  Why stop at a guarantee of full-time work for involuntary part-timers when there are millions unemployed or earning poverty wages for full-time work? How about a federal guarantee of the right to living-wage work for all who want to work?

Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg

Chair, National Jobs for All Network 

Prof. Emerita of Social Work and Social Policy, Adelphi University

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June Zaccone
National Jobs for All Network
http://www.njfac.org