The Growing Class Of "Underemployed"

(CBS)  Carlos Campo has had plenty of work lately. Problem is, it's all in his own home. He's a carpenter in Florida, where the construction boom has gone bust, CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports.

"Have you gotten any nibbles?" she asked him.

"Here and there I get an offer, but it only lasts like two weeks, and then I lose my job again," Campo said. "I gotta reapply for unemployment."

As a result, Campo's income dropped from $45,000 last year to $19,000 this year, while the cost of food and utilities rose.

Does he worry about paying those bills?

"Every day," he said. "Bill collectors calls me every day."

The number of people like Campo - working part time - grew by 308,000 this month.

Year-to-year, the number of part time workers is up 1.4 million. That includes people who need the extra income - and those who want to work full-time but can't find a full-time job.

"Businesses are cautious about hiring, and they're trying to cut their labor costs any way they can. That's going across the board and it's reducing the number of full-time workers, it's reducing overtime, it's just reducing the average work week," said economist William Cheney.

And, it's increasing the number of workers looking for a second paycheck just to make ends meet. That means even more competition for fewer jobs.

Kevin Lloyd is a fiber optics engineer. Looking for work, any work since September.

"Even if it's not in the field I'm in, it's still, you know, if someone is laid off from working in a fast food place, they might try and get a job I'm going for," Lloyd said.

A job that for Carlos Campo could save the family home. He can't afford the mortgage, and can't find a buyer.

"I look for a job every day, but I can't … find a job," Campo said. "I just hope it gets better."

That is, before his finances get worse.

[kc9cvr]

I got cut off by the limit. Here''s the rest:

Anyways, sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can''t pull off saving the money you want to save. Yes, there are people who over-spend, and some do it be a huge margin. But not everyone is that way. Some are just trying to have a decent life with their family and having to stretch to make ends meet.

[kc9cvr]

I have a disagreement with some of the people on here that are basically saying if you haven''t saved any money, then it''s your own fault. My husband and I have tried over and over again to save some money. But unfortnately, we live pretty much paycheck to paycheck. There is no way we can afford to save anything at the moment. We have a 93 Subaru that my mom bought us at an auction when our last vehicle broke. We are renting to own a house from my in-laws. We have a three year old daughter that we have to provide for (which is the only our parents have helped us like they have).
My husband works full time and once in a while he gets between 2 and 12 hours of over-time during the week. I don''t work because we can''t afford day-care and have no one able to watch our daughter while I work. We can''t afford for him to get any schooling even though he could take (with some studying) the ASE Certifcation Tests. He loves cars. He went UTI for their Autmotives program. He''s not afraid of long hours and hard work, but we struggle. Sure, I could get a job, working opposite shifts from him. But our daughter would suffer, because she''d be getting up when I came home and I wouldn''t have the energy to take care of her. Our marriage would suffer, how could it not if we never saw each other?

[zucchiniman]

What most people want over the long run is independence. Nowadays we find it hard to achieve this because we have too many kids and get sucked into the materialism trap. Takes some discipline to avoid getting into debt. Retirement is something we can''t borrow for.

[payasyougo]

"The minimum wage should be raised to $15.00/hour. immediately. If the government wanted the economy to improve, they''''d pay people a living wage so that they could spend their extra income on things like toys and beer and restaurants. Keeping people at slave wages may keep us in line but it will be the death of this nation economically."
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Why stop there? Why shouldn''t someone working at a minimum wage job also be able to afford a 50" HDTV, take an annual cruise, buy a new car every 3 years for each driver in the household and a laptop and gameboy for each child. Raise the minimum wage to $40/hr, mandate employer paid healthcare, mandate employer paid retirement in lieu of social security and up the child tax credit to 10k/yr.

Imagine how well the economy would do with this much income and cash flow.

For about one day.

[anvilofsteel]

when has Part-Time Work EVER cut it except for teens, retired persons and 2nd income in house?

[babooph]

They will have to work them enough to pay the war debt & eat beans-no healthcare will be needed-the rich have all they need & it sounds so nice to send a bunch to Africa.The debt will have to be paid ,or the Chinese will not pay for the next one & permanent bases for these two.

[rhs648]

How arrogant and smug you are. So judgemental. What about those that don''''t fall within your limited scope? So quick to demean others in order to elevate yourself. Keep telling yourself that they all made bad choices and brought this on on themselves, perhaps that will allay your fears and make you feel better about your circumstances and yourself.

Posted by IrishWench

There is no denying that many people spend way beyond their means and put themselves into debt. It has nothing to do with being smug. Many people have to have everything now and are unwilling to postpone purchases until they can afford them. Financial planners advise people to have an emergency fund equal to six months of income for things such as unexpected expenses and loss of jobs. How many people have saved six months of income for a rainy day? Instead they purchase homes and cars they really can''t afford and charge themselves into debt. This is reality, not smugness

[payasyougo]

"Certainly the politicians are not doing their job, and corporations are trying to get into your pockets every day"
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You''ve got that backwards. Corporations are not doing their jobs and it is politicians already in your pockets everyday and working on all nite long.

[payasyougo]

"Anyone old enough will recall: America was a truly GREAT country between the 1950s and 1980s, when it taxed itself appropriately to create a ''''great society''''."
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America was a truly GREAT country from 1776 until the first tax was enacted. Then things started going down hill.

[corpbullshii]

Everybody I know works two jobs. Not part time jobs, mind you, one full time and one part time. If you are single, that''s the only way to afford rent unless you like living in a one bedroom apartment with a roommate.

The minimum wage should be raised to $15.00/hour. immediately. If the government wanted the economy to improve, they''d pay people a living wage so that they could spend their extra income on things like toys and beer and restaurants. Keeping people at slave wages may keep us in line but it will be the death of this nation economically.