FOOD FOR OTHERS: In Fairfax County, minimum wage is a living wage for nobody

There is a stunning analysis done at MIT that shows why so many working people in the U.S. are poor. Nationwide, a typical family of four (two working adults, two children) needs to work more than 3 full-time minimum-wage jobs (a 68-hour work week per working adult) to earn a living wage.The analysis gives county-by-county information, and what it shows for Fairfax County (http://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/51059) goes a long way toward explaining why Food for Others serves so many families here every day.

The living wage shown is the hourly rate that an individual must earn to support their family, if they are the sole provider and are working full-time (2080 hours per year). The state minimum wage, $7.25 per hour, is the same for all individuals, regardless of how many dependents they may have. Here are the numbers for Fairfax County.
Living wage for families of various sizes.

1 Adult -- $13.22
1 Adult, 1 child -- $24.38
1 Adult, 2 children -- $29.40$
1 Adult, 3 children -- $37.16
2 Adults -- $19.25
2 Adults, 1 child -- $23.12
2 Adults, 2 children -- $24.49
2 Adults, 3 children -- $29.12

According to MIT: The minimum wage does not provide a living wage for most American families; in Fairfax County the minimum wage provides a living wage for no one, not even single adults.
© 2014 Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology