What it Takes for Two Types of Families to Live Modestly in Modesto, California

      For context to this post see, Uncle Sam's Poverty Guidelines.

     The Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank in Washington D.C., provides a regional calculator of what it would take to provide a modest standard of living anywhere in the country.  No other organization known at this time, liberal or conservative, provides a comparable regional calculator that offers an alternative viewpoint.

     Please use your own judgment and compare our budgets study of two types of families based on region. The first case profiles our same two families living instead in Modesto, California, According to the U.S. Commerce Department's United States Census the median income in Modesto is $49,205.

     Here is what the Economic Policy Institutes calculates for our two families. It would take a  family of four about 154 hours weekly to generate sufficient income at the minimum wage rate. It would take a family of two a little over 120 hours.

     The population of Modesto was 203,547 in 2012. 39,692 people lived at or below the federally defined poverty level.

Uncle Sam's Poverty Guidelines for Two Types of Familes

     The Department of Health and Human Services provides federal poverty guidelines for families of varying size.
 
      This blog study is an unscientific comparison for two families using the federal poverty guidelines. It helps us develop a baseline by demonstrating what a basic federal family budget could provide a family of four and a family of two at the threshold of poverty.

      It would take a family of four almost 57 hours a week at the minimum wage to produce this standard of living. It would take a single parent with one child a little over 37 hours week.

     Here is what the federal poverty guidelines would provide in a simple budget. How would this work for you in the same situation?

Minimum wage rates by state in 2014

     The U. S. Department of Labor provides this interactive map that depicts the minimum wage rates by state.

What do Jackie Speier, Neel Kashkari and Mark Leno have in common?

All walked a mile in the shoes of the working poor. Jackie Speier spent a night in a homeless shelter where she met a married couple both full-time workers. Neel Kashkari picked strawberries and Mark Leno got hungry on food stamps. 

Women and rent

Who are the minimum wage workers? Two out of three minimum wage workers are women.

Source the National Women's Law Center

Trailer for room or rent? Rooms cost on average 130 minimum wage hours per month in California.

Is $28.34 fair?

What if wages kept up with productivity or the Joneses?



Source the AFL-CIO



As for keeping up with the Joneses?

Source of the AFL-CIO

Why Do We Work So Hard?

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a nongovernmental organization in France that tracks quality of life issues of developed countries, came out with their 2013 Better Life Index. Spoiler alert, the U.S. did not rank well.

No sweat, GM's got the answer. What happened to working smarter not harder?

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   Courtesy Google images