Jennie Daley and Topher Sanders recently wrote an article about the struggle for food in Tompkins County, New York. I include an excerpt:
Experts on food insecurity note that while the effects may be many, the cause of hunger is most often one — the lack of a wage that will pay all the bills.
“I’ve got a lot of bills to pay, so my money goes there first,” said Michelle Fish as she picked up staples at the Brooktondale Food Pantry. “Rents are so high and with the price of gas now, the money I was spending on food goes in the gas tank.”
Fish, a Cornell University food service worker, has four mouths to feed with one income.
By local estimates, Fish does not earn a living wage. Using figures for a single person with no children, the federal poverty guideline is $10,210. Alternatives Federal Credit Union estimates the Tompkins County living wage to be just more than $20,450 for that same person.
The difference between the two measures comes from how they are derived. The federal poverty line is based on food costs, specifically the cost of a basket of basic grocery goods, multiplied by three. Alternatives considers other expenses, including rent, insurance, health care, transportation, telephone, recreation and savings in its living wage figure.
We urgently need to ensure that everyone makes a living wage, but I disbelieve that that alone can eliminate poverty.
A living wage gives a family just barely enough to survive. However, children from these homes need more than second-rate necessities to grow into self-sufficient adults who can avoid poverty. The poverty cycle will trap these children unless they get complete access to quality food, clothes, shelter, healthcare and education. Only then will these children grow into adults have the health and education to support themselves and their families.
If a family gets a living wage immediately, they can survive for now. However, that won’t break the poverty cycle by itself.