Cost of self-sufficiency on the rise
Study finds health care, housing are top factors
A statewide study finds that it costs Washington residents about 8 percent more on average to make ends meet than it did two years ago.
The study, the Self-Sufficiency Standard for 2011, was prepared by a research team from the University of Washington. Author of the study is Diana Pearce, director of the Center for Women’s Welfare at the UW School of Social Work.
The effect of health care and housing increases are the two main factors in the increase, the study reported.
Pearce also noted that the economy’s scarcity of good jobs is a major issue for the state: “Of the 10 most common jobs in the state, only one, registered nursing, met or exceeded the minimum income necessary for a single parent supporting a preschooler and school-age child,” the report noted.
The report measures how much a family must earn to pay for housing, food, child care, health care, transportation, taxes and other basic necessities without public assistance or help from family and friends.
State residents faced health care increases of 12 percent on average since 2009. Housing costs showed the second-highest percentage increase, up 10 percent from 2009.
The self-sufficiency levels are set as a range of salaries based on the size of the family and where the family lives.
For instance, a single parent with one preschooler and one school-age child living in Seattle needs an annual income of $56,904 – up 13 percent from $50,268 two years ago.
In Spokane County, the same family needs a yearly income of $41,750, up 8 percent from 2009.
Here are the Spokane County wages needed for self-sufficiency, according to the study:
• One adult – $8.09 per hour, compared with $7.82 in 2009.
• One adult and preschooler – $16.13 per hour ($14.71 in 2009).
• One adult with infant and one preschooler – $21.31 per hour ($20.01 in 2009).
• Adult with preschooler and school-age child – $19.77 per hour ($18.26 in 2009).
• Adult with school-age child and one teen – $13.95 per hour ($13.15 in 2009).
• Two adults with a preschooler and a school-age child – $11.44 per hour per adult ($10.70 in 2009).
The current minimum wage in Washington is $8.67 per hour. That minimum wage will increase next year to $9.04 per hour.