Working The Third Shift

The US restaurant industry employs 10 million workers, including 2 million mothers. It is one of the largest segments of the US economy, and it is an area of consistent growth, even in the recession.

But industry growth does not bring wage or benefit growth to restaurant workers. 60% of all US workers earning below the minimum wage work in food preparation or service occupations; 25% of all US workers earning the minimum wage also work in the industry. And, as we have written about many times, restaurant workers rarely have access to health insurance or paid sick days.

So why are we writing about this today? A new report from the Restaurant Opportunities Center looks at the child care needs of restaurant and food preparation industry workers, and comes up with the following findings:

• Child care is not affordable for mothers working in restaurants.
• Lack of control over work schedules and distance from child care facilities makes access to care difficult.
• These and other barriers to childcare have led to unemployment and underemployment for mothers in the industry.

You can read the whole report at http://rocunited.org/the-third-shift/.