Indicator: Living Wage
Data and Data Discussion provided by Communities Count
Sustainability Snapshot:
A living wage guarantees that a person working a 40-hour week makes enough to pay for essentials: housing, food, utilities, transport, health care, and some recreation. A living wage differs from the minimum wage in that the latter is set by law and may fail to cover basics. Workers making less than living wages in the communities where they work are often forced to live at a distance at a cost. Nearly one-fourth of all low-wage earners are immigrants or refugees.
Sustainability Trend:
Almost half of all jobs do not provide enough income for a family of 4 with 2 full-time wage earners. Because this indicator is measured differently than in previous years, it is difficult to make comparisons.
Data Discussion
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Additional Resources
- The 2008 Job Gap: Tough Times for NW Families
This 2008 report sponsored by the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations provides detailed information from living wages for counties in the NW, to the percent of job openings that pay a living wage, to the ratio of the number of living wage job openings to the number of people seeking employment. The report includes the implications of this problem as well as policy suggestions to close the increasing gap.
- Living Wage Calculation for Seattle
This site gives a breakout of the expenses that go into making a living wage calculation. Thanks to Matt Maria for locating it.
- Self-Sufficiency Calculator
This Washington State calculator is based on the Self Sufficiency Standard, which measures how much income is needed for a family of a given composition - one person household to large family size - in a given place, to adequately meet its basic needs without any public or private assistance. This free on-line tool does the following: * Shows you what hourly wage you must make to support yourself or your family, based on where you live. * Tells you what you and/or your family should be making based on market value prices for rent, food, health care, transportation, taxes, child care and miscellaneous expenses. * Allows you to test different work or living options and see how this affects your bottom line.
- Real Wages per Worker and Median and Personal Income, King County Benchmarks, Economics, 2005-2006
After 25% growth during the 1990’s, real per capita personal income is still below 2000 levels but has rallied with a nominal increase from 2002 to 2003. Despite the considerable slowdown in income growth after 1999, real per capita personal income has risen 17% since 1993. When adjusted for inflation, median household income has grown 2% from 2000-2004. However, household income has not grown evenly among King County’s households. The proportion of households earning under 50% of median household income and those earning more than 150% of the median have grown while the proportion of households earning between 50% and 149% of the median has shrunk. With uneven growth in incomes, many households continue to struggle to make ends meet.




