Poverty is a cycle that can only be broken when low-income workers are paid enough to meet their basic needs.
When a person can’t provide the basic standards of living, the community must continue to invest in charitable services to help meet their basic needs. A living wage, or a move toward it, allows people to meet their own needs, thus reducing the need for charity and benefiting the economy and community as a whole.
- Recently, the federal government raised the minimum wage from $6. 55 an hour to $7. 25 an hour. This increase may seem beneficial, but it is just a fraction of the wages needed to cover the basic costs of living.
- A living wage is one that covers all the basic needs of a person or family including housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare, taxes and other necessary expenses.
- In Forsyth County, even the average wages of a food service employee ($8.29/hour) and an administrative support employee ($13.48) are insufficient to overcome the effects of poverty.
The guidelines for determining poverty have not been updated in four decades. The costs of healthcare and childcare have continued to rise at a rate faster than minimum wage leaving the minimum wage worker, or the unemployed, unable to adequately provide for their basic needs.
- Minimum wage does not cover expenses for the basic standard of living, causing even those who are employed to be unable to save any portion of their income. This inability to create financial security continues the cycle of poverty.
- Women are hit hardest by the effects of poverty. They experience larger income decreases than men on average, which makes it even harder for impoverished women to provide for a family.
Advocacy for the Poor supports efforts of the Forsyth Working Families Partnership, which assists people in free tax preparation and helping them claim the Earned Income Tax Credit. The Earned Income Tax Credit is widely viewed as the largest federal anti-poverty program.
Volunteers can become certified to assist with free tax preparation. If you are interested in volunteering as a tax preparer, contact Advocacy for the Poor at 336-725-6155 for more information
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