White Paper
Minimum Wage
Low wages disproportionately affect single parent households. Their family’s are solely reliant on one person’s income to sustain the entire household. A study found that 33% of single mothers and 7% of single fathers were at economic crisis levels defined as, at or below poverty status.[1]With about 23% of children living in single parent households,[2]there needs to be an income intervention starting with the minimum wage. There is an urgent need for livable wages of at least $15 an hour indexed with inflation to accomplish greater socioeconomic mobility for single parent households.
Financial interventions must start with minimum wages to support single parent households as the low wages affect the whole family and as expenses grow, their incomes often remain the same. The federal minimum wage has been stagnant at $7.25 for the past twelve years.[3]This equates to only $15,080 per year- a wage that would be difficult to sustain a family even to supply basic physiological necessities such as food and housing. The history of the minimum wage did not always yield such low economic power. In fact, if the minimum wage kept up with inflation from its inception, it would be over $24/hour which is $49,920 per year.[4]Still, it remains low depreciating in value as each year passes with no movement making it harder on singular income households.
Though states have increased their minimum wages this is not a nation-wide trend. Georgia is especially known for this discrepancy with a minimum wage below the federal level at $5.15; sadly, this is better than states that have no minimum.[5]Although the Fair Labor Standards Act protects most workers from being paid below the federal level, thousands of workers are not protected by this law. To be protected a company must earn more than $500,000 per year and engage in interstate commerce which leaves thousands vulnerable.[6]In addition to the low wages for the thousands of laborers who are unprotected, low minimum wages drive down wages for millions in the state affecting single parent households and robbing them of competitive wages to support their families.
Elected officials and concerned citizens often call for government intervention to support families earning low wages through social safety net programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP also known as Food Stamps), Women, Infants and Children (Women Infants and Children) and Medicaid. While, these interventions are helpful, the social safety net is quite weak. Most social services within the safety net use poverty guidelines to determine eligibility which are abysmally low at $12,880 for one person households.[7] At this rate, people earning even slightly above the minimum wage can quickly disqualify for social programs. Though single parents in these circumstances would not be eligible for social programs, they still would not earn enough for safe housing and other necessities. In perspective, the poverty level is lower than the average used car used to get to minimum wage jobs; the unaccounted costs of low wage hourly work.[8]
Included in the financial support needed from higher minimum wages is support for education. 47% of kids from single parent households attend college compared to 67% of children with both parents. The college attendance largely relates to the parent’s ability to prepare the child for school and the student’s ability to navigate to college. Relatedly, is the student’s ability to graduate. 19-31% of students in single parent households graduate (range based on the type of single parent household) compared to the 43% graduation rate for students in two family households.[9]These graduation rates are largely due to the ability to finance college and the competing priorities for students to help out back at home. The average single mom earns $45,000 per year.[10]Comparatively, the average cost of college is $35,720 per student per year in the United States. The cost shoots to $58,949 for private school.[11]Considering that a single mom’s income is usually equivalent to the household income (unless teenage wages or child support are added), the cost of college would usurp almost all of the income and leave the parent in debt for a private school even after using 100% of their earnings for the year. This cost becomes the cost of opportunity for children in single parent households.
The effect of low wages is closely correlated with access to food. Single parents are more likely to live in food deserts and fast-food swamps (a location that is outside of a one-mile radius of a source of produce and other healthy food options but surrounded by fast food restaurants).[12]Given the close proximity of many adults and teens from single-parent homes to these restaurants it is a popular job. However, fast food restaurants notoriously pay low wages. With only one adult earner, teenagers from low-income households are responsible for contributing to the bills in their household. Their contribution is not supplemental but a mandatory component of the household income making low wages- even as a teenager, harmful to the family total income.
Low wages also restrict access to housing. On average, people earning the federal minimum wage, would have to work 132 hours per week to afford rent in a modest two-bedroom apartment.[13]In context, there are only 168 hours in a week meaning that outside of work, single parents would barely have time to sleep never mind spend time with their kids or further their education. Housing is one of the most basic necessities allowing parents and kids alike a safe place to study, sleep and spend time together. Without adequate wages they are robbed of this security.
To support single parents, wages must be raised both for the prosperity of the parent and the improvements of access to education, food, housing and overall socioeconomic mobility of the family. Support legislation that raises the minimum wage both at the federal and state level to improve outcomes for single parents and their families today!
References
Census Bureau. (2021, March 25) National Single Parent Day. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/single-parent-day.html
Center for Economic Policy and Research. (2020, July 21). This is What Minimum Wage Would be if it Kept Pace with Inflation. CEPR. https://www.cepr.net/this-is-what-minimum- wage-would-be-if-it-kept-pace-with-productivity/
Department of Labor. (2016, September). Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act- Who is Covered. DOL. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/compliance- assistance/handy-reference-guide-flsa#2
Department of Labor. (2021). History of Changes to the Minimum Wage Law. DOL. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/history
Department of Labor. (2021, May 01) State Minimum Wage Laws. Department of Labor. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state
Hanson, M. (2019, June 6). Average Cost of College and Tuition. Education Data. https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of- college
Lu, Y., Walker, R., Richard, P. & Younis, M. (2019, December 24). Inequalities in Poverty and Income between Single Mothers and Fathers. Int J Environ Res Public Health17(1): 135. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6982282/
National Low Income Housing Coalition. (2020). Out of Reach 2020. National Low Income Housing Coalition. https://reports.nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/OOR_2020_Mini- Book.pdf
New York Law School. (2012, June).Unshared Bounty: How Structural Racism Contributes to the Creation and Persistence of Food Deserts. New York Law School. https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=racial_justic e_project
United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2021). 2021 Poverty Guidelines. HHS.https://aspe.hhs.gov/2021-poverty-guidelines
Statista. (2020, May 14). Used Vehicle Average Selling Price in the United States from 2016- 2019.Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/274928/used-vehicle-average-selling- price-in-the-united-states/
Zill, N. (2020, May 25) For Getting Kids Through College, Single-Parent Families Are Not All the Same. Institute for Family Studies. https://ifstudies.org/blog/for-getting-kids-through- college-single-parent-families-are-not-all-the-same
[1] Lu, Y., Walker, R., Richard, P. & Younis, M. (2019, December 24). Inequalities in Poverty and Income between Single Mothers and Fathers. Int J Environ Res Public Health17(1): 135. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6982282/
[2] Census Bureau. (2021, March 25) National Single Parent Day. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/single-parent-day.html
[3] Department of Labor. (2021). History of Changes to the Minimum Wage Law. DOL. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/history
[4] Center for Economic Policy and Research. (2020, July 21). This is What Minimum Wage Would be if it Kept Pace with Inflation. CEPR. https://www.cepr.net/this-is-what-minimum-wage-would-be-if-it-kept-pace-with-productivity/
[5] Department of Labor. (2021, May 01) State Minimum Wage Laws. Department of Labor. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state
[6] Department of Labor. (2016, September). Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act- Who is Covered. DOL. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/compliance-assistance/handy-reference-guide-flsa#2
[7] United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2021). 2021 Poverty Guidelines. HHS.https://aspe.hhs.gov/2021-poverty-guidelines.
[8] Statista. (2020, May 14). Used Vehicle Average Selling Price in the United States from 2016-2019.Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/274928/used-vehicle-average-selling-price-in-the-united-states/
[9] Zill, N. (2020, May 25) For Getting Kids Through College, Single-Parent Families Are Not All the Same. Institute for Family Studies.
[10] Census Bureau. (2021, March 25) National Single Parent Day. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/stories/single-parent-day.html
[11] Hanson, M. (2019, June 6). Average Cost of College and Tuition. Education Data. https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-college
[12] New York Law School. (2012, June). Unshared Bounty: How Structural Racism Contributes to the Creation and Persistence of Food Deserts. NYLS. https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=racial_justice_project
[13] National Low Income Housing Coalition. (2020). Out of Reach 2020. National Low Income Housing Coalition. https://reports.nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/OOR_2020_Mini-Book.pdf