Cost of Living
Consistent with our focus on changing lives significantly, we prefer to fund an organization that makes large numbers of applicants capable of being truly self-supporting. To us, "self-supporting" means being able to live (in New York City, our area of focus) in good health and reasonable comfort with the ability to care for at least one dependent. Having little sense for what this costs, we consulted The Self-Sufficiency Standard for the City of New York 2004, prepared by Diana Pearce for the Women's Center for Education and Career Advancement. The table below is taken from page 8.
| 1 adult | 1 adult, 1 preschooler | 1 adult, 1 preschooler, 1 schoolage | 2 adults, 1 preschooler, 1 schoolage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $819 | $930 | $930 | $930 |
| Child Care | 0 | $782 | $1,412 | $1,412 |
| Food | $260 | $396 | $563 | $853 |
| Transportation | $070 | $070 | $070 | $140 |
| Health Care | $098 | $217 | $236 | $284 |
| Miscellaneous | $125 | $240 | $321 | $362 |
| Taxes | $343 | $626 | $890 | $914 |
| Earned Income Tax Credit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Child Care Tax Credit | 0 | -$058 | -$100 | -$100 |
| Child Tax Credit | 0 | -$083 | -$167 | -$167 |
| Self-Sufficiency Wage ($/hr., per adult) | $9.89 | $18.00 | $23.97 | $13.35 |
| Monthly income (per adult) | $1,715 | $3,120 | $4,155 | $2,314 |
| Annual income (per adult) | $20,580 | $37,440 | $49,860 | $27,768 |
Pearce found that a single adult needs to earn roughly $9-$10/hr to support themselves in New York City, though a single parent raising a child needs to make $15-$20/hr, and even two parents raising two children must each make more than $13/hr. Pearce's results do vary by location (largely due to the costs of housing, for details see pgs 47-97) but not drastically for the poorer areas of New York City, where our applicants work. Based on this, we are hesitant to classify a job paying $8-12/hr as truly "self-supporting."