Subscribe to Receive the Daily Report

Monday, June 1st, 2015

You can’t rent a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in America on a minimum-wage job

Author:     Jin Zhao
Source:     The Raw Story
Publication Date:     30 May 2015 at 18:16 ET
 Link: You can’t rent a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in America on a minimum-wage job
Stephan:   Think about what this is saying: The Federal formula is that a person should pay no more than 30 of their income for shelter, and in the United States a fully employed 40-hour a week individual working for the minimum wage cannot afford housing in even the meanest one bedroom apartment. While at the same time one house is being built in Los Angeles to sell for $500 million. And there are buyers. Do you need a clearer example of wealth inequity?
Hours needed at minimum wage to afford a one-bedroom apartment (National Low-Income Housing Coalition)

Hours needed at minimum wage to afford a one-bedroom apartment (National Low-Income Housing Coalition)

A new report by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition shows that there is no state in the U.S. where a full-time, minimum-wage worker can afford the rent of a one-bedroom apartment, Vox reports. (emphasis added)

According to the report, the national average Housing Wage in 2015 is $19.35 for a two-bedroom unit, and $15.50 for a one-bedroom unit, while the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25 per hour in 2015, which hasn’t been raised since 2009. In 13 states and D.C., Housing Wage is more than $20 per hour. The Housing Wage is an estimate of the full-time hourly wage that a household must earn to afford a decent apartment at HUD’s estimated Fair Market Rent (FMR) for no more than 30% of their income.

The data from the report show a gap between wages and rents across the country. In no state or D.C. […]

Read the Full Article

1 Comment

  1. steve hovland on Monday, June 1, 2015 at 6:11 am

    I think it’s more accurate to talk about income inequality rather than wealth inequality. Income was more widely distributed in the 50’s and 60’s, but wealth(assets) was highly concentrated.