Policy Matters

The current recession has affected many of Mississippi’s working families. Some have experienced job loss, reduced work hours, decreased benefits, or an increase in costs of basic needs. As many working families struggle to make ends meet, it becomes all the more important to understand how much the state’s working families need to cover necessary expenses.

The Mississippi Economic Policy Center’s 2009 Self-Sufficiency Report details how much families need to earn to cover their basic expenses without additional private or government support.  The cost of housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and other expenses are all included in the wage calculation. Self-Sufficiency wages vary by the composition of a family and their county of residence. The Standard calculates the sufficiency wage for 70 family types in all of Mississippi’s 82 counties.

 The Self-Sufficiency Compared to Other Benchmarks, 2009 
(One Adult, One Preschooler, and One Schoolage Child)  

The Self-Sufficiency Standard reveals that, often, the income Mississippi’s families need is more than the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) and Full-Time Minimum Wage ($7.25 per hour). The chart above illustrates a range of income benchmarks for Mississippi’s residents. The chart shows that the FPL and minimum wage do not provide adequate income for 3-person families in Leflore and Hinds Counties. 

Interested in the Self-Sufficiency Wage for your county and family type? The Mississippi Economic Policy Center is excited to launch its new and improved Self-Sufficiency Calculator! Our enhanced calculator now features a Wage Tool that allows individuals to select a career sector and occupation of interest. The Wage Tool helps users to determine which occupations provide Self-Sufficiency wages in Mississippi for different family types.