Risk Factors for Family Homelessness
Although there are many reasons why homelessness is such a pervasive problem in the United States, below are just a few of the reasons why Doorways services are so vital to our community.
Lack of Affordable Housing
The economic expansion of the 1990s obscured certain trends and statistics that point to an increased, not decreased, need for affordable housing. The generally accepted definition of affordability is for a household to pay no more than 30 percent of its annual income on housing. Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. An estimated 12 million renter and homeowner households now pay more than 50 percent of their annual incomes for housing, and a family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States. The lack of affordable housing is a significant hardship for low-income households preventing them from meeting their other basic needs, such as nutrition and healthcare, or saving for their future and that of their families.
Learn more about affordable housing in Arlington.
A Living Wage versus a Minimum Wage
The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007. The federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act. Many states also have minimum wage laws. In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages.
Previous Federal Minimum Wage: $5.15
New Federal Minimum Wage:
- $5.85 - July 24th, 2007 (VA Wage)
- $6.55 - July 24th, 2008
- $7.25 - July 24th, 2009
Many times the minimum wage puts people, both singles and adults with children below the poverty line. On the other hand, a living wage is the level of income sufficient to allow workers to support their families without dependence upon outside (public) assistance.
A more narrow definition suggests that it is the income level necessary to pull a family of four above the poverty threshold, adjusted for local economic variables, with a range of $7.60 to $12.00 per hour.
The “Poverty Line”
The poverty guidelines are a version of the federal poverty measure. They are issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The guidelines are a simplification of the poverty thresholds for use for administrative purposes — for instance, determining financial eligibility for certain federal programs. For a family of 4 the poverty line is $21,200 based on the 2008 Poverty Guidelines
How does a minimum wage impact the poverty line?
40 hours a week x 52 weeks in a year = 2080 hours a year x 5.85 = $12,168
This is only enough to raise you above the poverty guideline if you have no children—and this does not include vacation!
Living Wage Stats: To raise a family of four to the poverty line ($21,200):
- $10.19 (40 hrs/week, 2080 hours, no vacation)
- $10.60 (40 hrs/week, 2000 hours, 2 weeks unpaid vacation)
- $11.65 (35 hrs/week, 1820 hours, no vacation)
- $12.11 (35 hrs/week, 1750 hours, 2 weeks unpaid vacation)
These figures also do not account for sick leave someone may take for themselves or for a child.
To bring a family of four to a more comfortable $32,185 (incidentally this amount is considerably lower than Arlington’s designation of “very low income” for a family of four):
- $15.47(40 hrs/week, 2080 hours, no vacation)
- $15.78 (40 hrs/week, 2040 hours, 1 week unpaid vacation)
- $17.68 (35 hrs/week, 1820 hours, no vacation)
- $18.03 (35 hrs/week, 1785 hours, 1 week unpaid vacation)
