Supporting a family of four in New York takes $93,500 a year. Other cities with the highest total living expenses are not surprising: Washington, D.C. ($88,600), Boston ($85,600) and San Francisco ($84,100). Federal poverty line for a family that size was $23,283 last year.
Many government benefit programs, including subsidies in the new healthcare law, are pegged to the poverty line, which is the same in all states except Alaska and Hawaii, even though regional differences in living expenses vary wildly. Housing costs can eat up as much as 25 percent of the family budget in places like San Francisco. Child care costs can eat up over one third of a family's budget in some cases. A family with one child in Washington, D.C. will pay $1,300 per month on child care, almost as much as monthly rent. A family of four could spend anywhere from 18 percent to 33 percent of their budget on health insurance, even assuming that they received employer-provided coverage.
A study from the Economic Policy Institute paints a stark contrast between what the federal government says it costs for family of four to get by and what it actually takes to support such a family in cities across America.
The median cost of modest living for an American family of four in the United States can be found in Newaygo County, Michigan, where $63,000 covers the basics but no extras such as vacations, eating out, or savings.
“It's surprising to a lot of people just how much it costs to live.” said Elise Gould, one of the researchers who compiled data from 615 communities. “There is an acknowledgement that the official poverty measure is inadequate...It’s a measure of absolute deprivation.”
From here
Many government benefit programs, including subsidies in the new healthcare law, are pegged to the poverty line, which is the same in all states except Alaska and Hawaii, even though regional differences in living expenses vary wildly. Housing costs can eat up as much as 25 percent of the family budget in places like San Francisco. Child care costs can eat up over one third of a family's budget in some cases. A family with one child in Washington, D.C. will pay $1,300 per month on child care, almost as much as monthly rent. A family of four could spend anywhere from 18 percent to 33 percent of their budget on health insurance, even assuming that they received employer-provided coverage.
A study from the Economic Policy Institute paints a stark contrast between what the federal government says it costs for family of four to get by and what it actually takes to support such a family in cities across America.
The median cost of modest living for an American family of four in the United States can be found in Newaygo County, Michigan, where $63,000 covers the basics but no extras such as vacations, eating out, or savings.
“It's surprising to a lot of people just how much it costs to live.” said Elise Gould, one of the researchers who compiled data from 615 communities. “There is an acknowledgement that the official poverty measure is inadequate...It’s a measure of absolute deprivation.”
From here
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