According to recent data gathered, in order for a person to afford a 2 bedroom apartment at the national average in the United States, one minimum wage job at $7.25 / hr just won’t cut it. They would have to make at $16.83/ per hour or work 3 minimum wage jobs for 122 hours per week to afford a place in a good number of states. In several states, they must make over $20 per hour to afford a 2 bedroom apartment. Fortunately, some employers are pushing their base pay for employees to $15.00/ hr but it’s still not quite enough. Housing costs outpacing pay increases have been a concern for many years. It makes one wonder why we know this yet continue to allow it to happen.
The fact of the matter is that many people have great goals, dreams and desires for their children as they age into adulthood. We want to them to complete school, go to college and get good paying jobs so that living costs aren’t a concern for them. We want them to make it big and do better than we did or our parents did. We want future generations to break cycles of debt and poverty. Sadly, reality doesn’t always align with what OUR desires are for them. Does this then mean that we can’t still hope for affordable housing for them? Does it mean we shouldn’t think that people not being able to have decent shelter in a decent neighborhood with a decent amount of room to lay their head is disgraceful? Why is it we don’t look at this a crisis? Why is it that we think if it doesn’t impact us that it is someone else’s’ problem?
The truth is is that it is our problem as well as the impacted parties’ problem. It is our problem because when many can’t afford housing they end up homeless, dependent upon government assistance or living in conditions that are not healthy for themselves or their families. The homeless population is one that continues to grow. Homeless parents with homeless children are a concern too. The children not having stable homes are impacted in schools. When this happens, one can only imagine how the long-term implication affects their education goals and lifelong opportunities for success. Yes, there are some super stories that come from people who were once homeless but that’s not everyone’s story. And let’s face it, who grew up saying “my lifelong goal is to be a homeless person looking for others to help me?”
If we don’t pay for it on the front end (increased wages), we all pay for it on the back end (our tax dollars towards public assistance, potential for public health issues). Everyone can take a stand to help with this affordable housing issue which is one of the many steps in the process to decrease or eliminate homelessness. We can support education programs that teach people financial literacy early. We can support initiatives to raise wages while supporting the small business owners so they can afford to do so. No one person can fix this but we can all take part and today I challenge you to decide which part of the mission you want to take upon yourself.
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Photo: Pixabay Artsy Bee
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