Min Wage Liveable in Only 4 US Counties

Min Wage Liveable in Only 4 US Counties

Posted: December 20, 2004 at 12:34 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In only four of the nation's 3,066 counties can someone working full-time and earning federal minimum wage afford to pay rent and utilities on a one-bedroom apartment, an advocacy group on low-income housing reported Monday.

A two-bedroom rental is even more of a burden -- the typical worker must earn at least $15.37 an hour to pay rent and utilities, the National Low Income Housing Coalition said in its annual "Out of Reach" report. That's nearly three times the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour.

"You get pushed into a situation where some necessities don't get paid for" because more salary must be devoted to housing, said Sheila Crowley, the coalition's executive director. "For people on low-wage fixed incomes, that's a chronic way of life."

About 36 million homes in the United States are rented. Roughly 80 percent of renter homes are located in nearly 1,000 counties in which a family must work over 80 hours a week -- or more than two full-time jobs -- at minimum wage to afford the typical two-bedroom apartment, the coalition said.
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http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=2715644&nav=5D7lUOMn

about not getting by on the low wage service jobs so many people have. Check out what her living situations were like, and she gave herself a savings account that most low wage workers will never have. Check out what her nutrition was like.

It is appalling.

Any job that is worth doing has got to pay enough for the worker to live on. That means food, decent shelter, adequate clothing, basic medical care, and enough left over for an occasional luxury after a bit is put aside for retirement.

If a company can't afford to support its workers, then that company needs to reassess why. And yes, some should simply go out of business completely. Any business plan that is based on paying people less than subsistence is a bad, unsustainable plan.

not necessarily for underpaying labor.

I am not sure what to think about regulating the price of labor. On the one hand, if it helps I am all for it. On the other hand, the minimum wage does not seem to be working and, quite often, a "living wage" might not apply to every circumstance...in other words, does a task (like washing dishes) that takes very little skill and zero education deserve to be paid 20 bucks an hour, or whatever the "living wage" would be set at? I don't think so, especially considering it would cost businesses dearly.

I don't know the answer. I am not trying to be contrarian, but it is not a simple issue.

just 4 counties to go.

hey ladies: you & your husband both have to work full time at min.. wage just to put a roof over your heads, but you also have to be a full-time stay-at-home mom or you're a sinner.

good luck with that!

People can't even find minimum wage jobs.

Clothing, Transportation, and "entertainment"?

I must be paying less than the national average, because after I subtracted transportation costs, that left me in a $56 deficit every month. No food. No medicine. In The Hole.

Oh, Yeah, you betcha this is some Economy!

Crawford, Lawerence and Wayne counties in Illinois, and Washington county, Fla. Wasn't Washington county, FLA one of those ones with voting "irregularities"?

I have a few cheap rental units. I try to set a reasonable price and only rent to people who have sufficient income. But it's very difficult for low-income people to afford even a modest apartment.

One thing that repeatedly happens is that a single woman signs the lease, realizes she can't meet the rent, and invites drug dealers in to use the house as a storage area to help pay the rent. I've had it happen twice and my girlfriend has had it happen at least once.

Please continue discussion here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1086033