![]() Given the variation among these figures, you may have some questions. Perhaps you are curious about the range, want to know more about the method, or wonder about the figures’ validity. By the MIT living wage estimate, the annual living wage for this family would have ranged from $36,582 to $50,709, based on locality. ![]() ![]() ( This would have been true anywhere in the continental US.) This same family would have been below the federal poverty threshold if its annual income was less than $15,510.( This would be true anywhere in Virginia, as well as several other states.) If the adult in this family worked 52 weeks, 40 hours per week, for minimum wage, the family income would have been $15,080.In other words, safe and comfortable accommodations change relative to place.Ĭonsider the following income benchmarks for a one adult, one child Virginia family in 2013: Even when setting explicit income minimums, as in the case of the Self-Sufficiency Standard, researchers must begin with certain assumptions.įurther, living wage is the amount an individual must earn to live safely and in comfort, albeit frugally, based on price in a given area. Like the Virginia Poverty Measure, living wage calculations must account for variations in cost of living between even small geographies, such as states or counties. In the US and other developed countries, living wage calculations tend to reflect households’ needs for shelter, food, clothing, transportation, health care, and taxes, as well as some small budget for “other”. While there are good sources of consumer data to use, researchers must make some decisions about what constitutes “just enough” or a “secure but modest” lifestyle. The effort to establish a “living wage” is made difficult because security and comfort are both subjectively, and relatively, defined. Though they may appear under different names, each of the above represents an attempt to define an hourly wage or yearly income that will allow households to meet basic needs. Amy Glasmeier, the researcher behind the MIT Living Wage Calculator, defines living wage as “ just enough to pay bills for the necessities of life and not fall behind”. The Economic Policy Institute built its Family Budget Calculator to determine “ the income a family needs in order to attain a secure yet modest living standard,” while the Center for Women’s Welfare Self-Sufficiency Standard calculates “ the amount of income necessary to meet basic needs (including taxes) without public assistance…and without private/informal assistance”. In 2012, members of the University of Virginia community issued a living wage demand of $13.00 per hour for University employees, to be adjusted yearly. ![]() The definition of “living wage” is difficult to nail down. ![]()
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