The state Permanent Commission on the Status of Women has released its updated self-sufficiency standard that shows what is considered an “adequate” wage can range wildly in Connecticut, depending upon a family’s composition and where they live.
The report says the amount needed just to make ends meet for one adult and one preschooler varies from $21.14 per hour (or $44,675 annually) in Windham to $36.84 per hour ($77,800 annually) in lower Fairfield County. A family of four in the Hartford suburbs would need $77,309.
The commission says its self-sufficiency standard is a more accurate reflection of what it takes to make ends meet. The federal poverty level, PCSW Executive Director Carolyn Treiss said, is based on dated assumptions “that are no longer relevant.” The federal standard, the commission said in a news release, falls short of actual costs.
She said the minimum wage increase to $10.10 in 2017 won’t be sufficient for families to provide the bare minimums. The self-sufficiency standard, she added in a statement, is “a more accurate reflection of what wages are needed to truly make ends meet, based on your family type and where you live in Connecticut.”
Here is a look at various metropolitan areas in Connecticut and what the standard would be for a family of four, including a school-age child and one preschooler with two adults:
- Waterbury: $70,182
- Greater Waterbury: $73,513
- Danbury: $82,351
- Greater Danbury: $84,327
- Northwest Corner: $71,219
- Bridgdgeport: $70,003
- Stamford: $93,026
- Naugatuckck Valley: $75,139
- Upper Fairfield: $90,117
- Lower Fairfield: $95,447
- Hartford: $63,381
- Hartford Suburbs: $77,309
- North Central: $76,801
- New Haven: $67,225
- Greater New Haven: $78,467
