Most Americans who rely on just a full-time job earning the federal
minimum wage cannot afford the rent and utilities on a one- or
two-bedroom apartment, an advocacy group on low-income housing reported
Monday. For a two-bedroom rental alone, the typical worker must earn at
least $15.37 an hour - nearly three times the federal minimum wage, the
National Low Income Housing Coalition said in its annual "Out of Reach"
report. That figure assumes that a family spends no more than 30
percent of its gross income on rent and utilities - anything more is
generally considered unaffordable by the government. Yet many poor
Americans are paying more than they can afford because wage increases
haven't kept up with increases in rent and utilities, said Danilo
Pelletiere, the coalition's research director. The median hourly wage
in the United States is about $14, and more than one-quarter of the
population earns less than $10 an hour, the report said. [more]
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