By Victor C. Kirk
The Census tables awakened America to its “browning” as the number of African Americans and Hispanics grew in some instances four-fold from a decade ago’s census reporting. Monroe saw a change as well. A total population count of slightly more than 48K and an evenly split gender – 47% male and 53% female. But either life expectancy or flight tells a story of the burdens of those over sixty are carried mostly by females – 60% of those over the age of sixty are female. Even though Monroe is a majority African American city at 62%, 49 % of this population is over sixty.
The census tables from the community survey tells an interesting story of wages and earnings in Monroe. Of particular interest is the disparity in wages paid to male vs female employees. At the lower scale of earnings, females dominate the employment group. Earnings that range from 1,000 or less to under 50K, females’ number 4985 and males’ number 3685. Earnings above 50K to a high of 100K plus – males dominate. The data list 2636 males earning between 50K and 100K plus and women numbering 1366. For each earning scale for the above 50K employee, 15% of males earn between 50-65k but only 11% of females. For the 75k to 99k earnings range, 7% of males but less than 3% of females are reported earning such. In the earnings range of 100k and above, there are four times more male earners than female earners.
One could speculate the disparity is due in large part to the employing industry. The census community survey reports wage earners in Monroe are distributed among seventeen major industries. Health care and social assistance employ 11,000 and has the largest payroll of 400 million, followed by retail trade, accommodations and food service, and administrative and support services each employing over four thousand but with a much smaller payroll footprint.
The data also suggest or confirms that educational attainment equates in some way to earnings. The Monroe populace with less than a high school education report median earnings of $12,473. The pay doubles with the attainment of either a high school diploma or its equivalent. Earners with this credential are reported to have a median pay of $20,473. Those having attended some college or acquired an associate degree are reported as having a median earning of $26,479. The bachelor’s degree and graduate or professional degrees top the list of median earners with $51,194 and $50,309, respectively. Earnings disparity raises its ugly head again even when education is considered with the largest disparity reported for earners with less than a high school diploma. The census reports males without a high school diploma raking in median earnings of $19,314 but females with the identical credential having a median earning of $7,469 bucks.
Shameful!!!!
