The National Low Income Housing Commission has a study out looking at housing affordability across the states.
The study found that in Connecticut, where legislators are debating a minimum wage increase, a minimum wage earner would need to work 113 hours a week for 52 weeks a year to afford a two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent (which is $1,208). HUD defines housing as affordable if it costs a household 30 percent of annual income or less.
In Connecticut, $23.22 is the wage someone would have to earn to be able to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom. Compared to the rest of the states, that makes Connecticut–where renters earn an average wage of around $16 an hour–the eighth most expensive:
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8 Responses to Study: How Affordable Is Housing In Connecticut?
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I’ve never understood this study. A one bedroom or an efficiency would be a better indicator of what a minimum wage worker could afford. A minimum wage indexed to twice the poverty level (or $11.25 an hour) still would not allow for owning a two bedroom apartment anywhere in the US.
A more meaningful issue: raising minimum wage to over $10.00 an hour indexing it to the cost of living (or preferably 2x the poverty level) and mandating a full employment program (employment-on-demand).
According to labor statistics, only 3% of hourly laborers over the age of 25 earn minimum wage. Increasing the minimum wage will increase unemployment among teens, especially in the inner city where rates are already over 25%.
You also fail to consider that the cost of living will also rise to meet any inflation caused by the increase in minimum wage.
Do you think the gov’t can just dictate how the labor market will work? Low skill jobs especially have a certain value to the business. Once this value is exceeded, they an automate the job in some industries, create further efficiencies by increasing workload or they can pass on costs to consumers which raises costs of living & negates the increase in the wages.
You nailed it Steve. Once again the libs are more concerned with pandering and votes than they are with the impact of their legislation.
Keep it up libs- you are well on your way to killing this state.
There’s no evidence companies refuse to relocate for the reasons Steve mentions
Jobs lost are usually exploitation jobs like food service and I’m failing businesses
Or,…
You could have 2 people making $11.61 per hour each.
I assume you need the second bedroom is for a child, since you are assuming only one income. Perhaps, GASP, should I actually write this, the father of the child requiring the extra bedroom could live with the mother of his child and both parents could have a job.
Oh snap!
Between the price of real estate, tax, energy, cost of living and etc, one would be crazy to move here from another state. It is the politicians driving up the costs overall– It is absolutely amazing to me how the media in this state supports this insanity.
“in Connecticut, where legislators are debating a minimum wage increase, a minimum wage earner would need to work 113 hours a week for 52 weeks a year”
Pavlov’s dogs learned better than some legislators do. If you want to know what landlords will do, just look at what happened with credit card ‘reform.’