Anna was working on her discussions of living wage when she asked me the fundamental question - what is the poverty line in the US? For a single person? For a family of four? The numbers didn't make sense - $10,160 for a single person, $19,806 for a family of four. The numbers didn't add up. One link later -
A Poverty Line that's Out of Date and Out of Favor and I was outraged. And it ties into the living wage issue.
The problem is that the definition of the poverty level is SCREWED. The definition - as the link shows - was designed around FOOD costs. It presumes a person - or family - spends 1/3 of its GROSS income on food. If you assume a person eats a VERY basic diet, then $65 per week may get them there. But that leaves just $180 per week for ecerything else. Any wonder people in the working poor are computer inaccessible - a computer is 3 weeks income, highspeed internet access is 3 1/2% of their monthly income. For a family of four with a poverty level of $19,806 that is a weekly grocery bill of $125 for the FAMILY. That is $1.45 per person per meal. Can you say cheap carbs as the filler? The poverty level in America is part of the CAUSE of obesity.
Even worse, the poverty level has remained basically flat since it was first calculated in 1963. No wonder the minimum wage can be set a $5.75 - it creates an annual income of $11,500 - above the "poverty level".
So, let's start a realistic debate as to what it really should take to support a family of four in a manner that encourages productive citizenship, healthy diet and some access to parental involvement. Then let's restart the living wage discussion. As long as the US government definition of poverty is indentured servitude, the living wage issue is fighting an uphill battle.