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We developed the Living Wage Calculator to help individuals, communities, employers, and others estimate the local wage rate that a full-time worker requires to cover the costs of their family’s basic needs where they live. Explore the living wage in your county, metro area, or state for 12 different family types below.
- Texas
Living Wage calculator. Articles; Methodology; FAQs;...
- California
Please do not scrape the data.If you are interested in using...
- Living Wage calculator
The living wage calculator (LWC) is a data series that has...
- Contact Us
Contact. The Living Wage Calculator was originally developed...
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Ma
Living Wage calculator. Articles; Methodology; FAQs;...
- South Carolina
Please do not scrape the data.If you are interested in using...
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
Living Wage Calculation for Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. The...
- Texas
Feb 1, 2023 · A single mother with two children earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour needs to work 252 hours per week, the equivalent of almost six full-time minimum-wage jobs, to make a living wage. Across all family sizes, the living wage exceeds the poverty threshold, often used to identify needs. State minimum wages provide for only a ...
The calculator includes living wage estimates for 3,143 counties to account for the geographic variation in costs across the U.S. The data is also available for 384 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs or metros) and 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
Jun 8, 2020 · Dr. Amy Glasmeier and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offer a calculator to estimate the living wage in your community. Enter your location, and you’ll see living wages for various family sizes in your community, how your local living wage compares to the minimum wage and the federal poverty wage, and typical wages for a number of ...
- What Is A Living Wage?
- How A Living Wage Works
- History of The Living Wage
- Living Wage vs. Minimum Wage
- Living Wage and Poverty Levels
- Advantages and Disadvantages of The Living Wage
- Calculating The Living Wage
- Alternatives to A Living Wage
- The Bottom Line
The term living wage refers to a theoretical income level that allows individuals or families to afford adequate shelter, food, and other necessities. The goal of a living wage is to allow employees to earn enough income for a satisfactory standard of living and prevent them from falling into poverty. Economists suggest it should be enough to ensur...
What constitutes a living wage may vary slightly depending on who's defining it. According to the Global Living Wage Coalition, some 60+ definitions and descriptions of the term exist. Despite some deviations, the organization found certain common themes when comparing how it is defined in human rights declarations, by non-governmental organization...
As noted above, the movement for a reasonable living wage is hardly new. Boston ship carpenters came together in 1675 to demand higher pay. The American Federation of Labor, founded in 1886, proposed a general living wage that adequately supported a family and maintained a standard of living higher than the 19th-century European urban working class...
Don't confuse the living wage with a minimum wage. The latter is the lowest amount of money a worker can earn as mandated by law. Many experts argue that the federal minimum wage should be increased to align with a living wage. They point out that the minimum wage does not provide enough income to survive as it doesn't rise with inflation; the mini...
Povertyin the U.S. may partly have to do with the lack of a living wage in all states. The Raise the Wage Act of 2021, an updated version from 2019, could help reduce or eliminate low wages that do not lift families and individuals out of poverty. The bill aims to increase the federal minimum wage over five years for regular employees, along with t...
Living wages are very controversial. As such, the idea surrounding them and their effects on the economy are hotly debated. We've outlined some of the arguments for and against living wages.
As noted above, a living wage is not the same thing as a minimum wage. Earning a living wage means you can pay necessary costs, including shelter, food, healthcare, childcare, taxes, and transportation. In addition, a living wage may be different depending on your circumstances, including the state and town in which you live. In 2004, MIT created a...
One alternative to a living wage could be a liveable federal minimum wage that allows individuals and families to earn enough to pay for basic necessities and medical care. Another alternative is a universal basic incomefrom the federal government that covers basic living costs. There are various plans around universal income, from only giving mone...
A living wage is a hypothetical level of income that is meant to show how much money is needed for people to afford things like food and shelter. This number depends on certain economic factors, including inflation, as well as the cost of living in an individual's area. There is no concrete number, though, as it varies on who is calculating it. But...
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What is the Living Wage Calculator?
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What is a living wage & why is it important?
Feb 6, 2014 · The MIT Living Wage Calculator lets you figure out how much is “enough” to live in your county by comparing the living wage—based on the barebones cost of housing, food, transportation, and child and health care—against the poverty wage and the minimum wage.
We developed a living wage calculator to estimate the cost of living in your community or region based on typical expenses. The tool helps individuals, communities, and employers determine a local wage rate that allows residents to meet minimum standards of living. Visit the project website.
