The 10 Worst Jobs in America

Models are paid millions to twirl in the latest bra and panty set. Right? Nope -- not unless they are one of an extremely small (and beautiful) handful of young women.

Last year, models made a median hourly wage of $11.22, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a bit less than twice the minimum wage of $5.85. Not so glamorous.

"Most models take other jobs. They're waiters. It gives them the flexibility to go to model calls and auditions," said Ean Williams, executive director of DC Fashion Week, a designer showcase held twice a year in the nation's capital. "There are a lot of people that are very beautiful, very talented, that don't make it in the business."

The young and beautiful aren't the only ones working like dogs and earning peanuts. In fact, models, demonstrators and product promoters rank No. 8 on a new list of the 10 worst jobs in America.

Who gets the shortest end of the stick? Coffee shop hosts and cafeteria counter attendants, according to a report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts.

Eighty-seven percent of restaurant-host and counter-attendant jobs were categorized as "bad," meaning they paid less than the median wage in 1979, adjusted for inflation, and had neither employer-sponsored health insurance nor a retirement plan. That translates to a wage today of $16.50 an hour or $34,320 per year for a full-time, full-year worker, according to the report.

About 79% of jobs in the models, demonstrators, and product promoters category are bad, according to the report, which covers 2003 through 2005 using Census Bureau data.

John Schmitt, a senior economist with CEPR, said the categories heavily composed of bad jobs haven't improved in recent years.

"The composition is basically the same. It's not like suddenly it's a different world for people," he said.

Occupations with the highest concentrations of bad jobs:

In 2005, almost one-third of American workers had a job that met all three bad criteria, about the same share as in 1979, according to the report.

"Even worse, despite substantial economic growth since the end of the 1970s, the share of bad jobs in the U.S. economy has remained essentially unchanged for over a quarter century," according to the report.

Quite a few of the bad job categories are those that might typically be considered summer jobs for teenagers or students trying to save for a car or help pay for school. Many are in the service industry, with categories such as tour guides, ticket takers and dishwashers making it into the top 10 bad occupational categories. Jobs typically found in food service took four of the 10 spots.

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