Since 1999, the Alliance for a Just Society, a national organization dedicated to addressing economic, racial and social inequities has released an annual Job Gap study on jobs and wages. This year, with the fight for a fairer minimum wage at the center of the battle over control of the New York State Senate, we asked AJS to see how New York’s $8 an hour minimum wage is affecting local families. Here’s what they found:

  • Statewide, the living wage for a single adult is $18.47 per hourThis reflects what is needed to meet basic needs and maintain some ability to deal with emergencies and plan ahead. The living wage for a single adult with two children is $36.52 per hour. A family with two children and two parents who are both working would need both parents to earn at least $23.14.
  • In Ulster County, the living wage for a single adult is even higher at $18.74, and the living wage for a single adult with two children is $37.12 per hour. Two working parents with two children would need to earn $23.40 each.
  • The minimum wage in New York does not allow working families to make ends meetThe state’s 2013 minimum wage provided just over one-third of a living wage for a single adult and only 20 percent of the living wage for a single adult with two children. Even the 2014 minimum wage of $8.00 falls well short of allowing workers to move beyond living paycheck-to-paycheck.

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Mandi SheradenMandi Sheraden, a Poughkeepsie resident featured in the report, graduated from Dutchess County Community College with a degree in Community Mental Health and today works two part-time jobs. Here’s what she had to say about her experience working jobs that don’t pay a living wage:

“Even working two jobs, it’s hard for me to make ends meet. To work, I need a car and have to make payments. I don’t have health care and am still paying off medical bills. I just paid off an $800 hospital bill and I am currently paying $300 for a doctor’s note that I needed to return to work.”

On Friday, September 12, State Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk joined Citizen Action of New York, the Alliance for a Just Society, the Communication Workers of America and community members in Kingston, NY to release the report and call for an increase to New York’s minimum wage:

“More than 55 percent of minimum wage workers are women, many of them with childrenSenate Democrats called for an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour to help those families struggling to provide their children with decent housing, clothing and food. An increased wage would also help stimulate the local economy, because when working people have more money to spend, they spend it right in the community on basic necessities. That helps small, local businesses grow and create jobs.”

Read more of the report below, or visit thejobgap.org.

Families out of Balance: How a living wage helps families move from debt to stability