In recent news it has been said that the unemployment rate for men is consistently higher than that of women. There are now more dads that are staying home rather than working. Although sentimentality and the desire to be with family may account for some of it, a good example of what the American family faces is rarely provided in such a way that it offers an accurate understanding of the context in which today’s families live.
The truth is that the overall well being of the family is at stake when considering the reasons for unemployment. And even if there are jobs that these families wish to take advantage of, a necessary minimum wage, not for the whole, but for each family, arises.
In this example, I am using a three person family. If this family were to get day care for their child, in this area of the country, they would pay about $150 a week. The real median household income in the United States in 2010 was $49,445. So, just for ease, we will cut that in half to indicate a loss of one-half of a family’s income – rounding up we get $25,000 annually or $2083 per month. Using these statistics provided, this family will qualify for (roughly) $207 of food assistance.
If we were to include the fact that nearly half of Americans take prescribed drugs, as well as considering that this family has a child, then we have to factor in the costs of insurance and prescription drugs. Doing a preliminary search online for health insurance quotes, the closest option that resembles the Medicaid plan that they would be qualified for costs about $430 per month and an extra $10 per month for the generic prescription they take.
Not only will you need insurance, but then you need to account for the gas you do not use while being unemployed in the assistance column. Most Americans travel 1-5 miles to work, but not all Americans. So for reality sake, we will choose the second most populous category when workers were asked about how far they commuted: 6-10 miles. Averaging the two out, we get about an 8 mile commute per day. Having a car that gets 20 miles per gallon and gas costing, on average, $3.50 per gallon, this person receives about a $60 “benefit” of unconsumed gas each month.
So, the monthly costs we’ve summed up so far are as follows:
Childcare x 4 weeks – $600 Food Assistance – $207 Insurance Costs – $430 Prescription Costs – $10 Saved Gas – $60 Total – $1307
Now, we need to account for the tax “saved” in not having a paycheck, thus coming up with an hourly wage comparable to what many often make. Medical benefits are not taxed, so we are looking at a 15% tax rate on an amount that will equal the “after tax” amount of $877 that we currently have. With a little algebra, and adding the medical benefits back, we see that a person would need to find a position that makes $1462 per month – or $9.13 per hour – just to break even.
This sounds well and good, but once we introduce any kind of driving distance over 8 miles, we incur more and more costs. To be specific, for anyone running a car that gets 20 miles per gallon and goes an average, from start to finish, of 35 miles per hour, they incur a $2 / hour cost – easily making a job paying $11 per hour, with a half-hour drive, worth less than simply staying home.
The fact is that times are hard throughout America. And these are the numbers many Americans face when deciding how to best take care of their families. If food stamps and Medicaid are a necessity until they find another opportunity that puts jobs at an attractive level, then why blame them for trying to take care of their family? The stigma of being on assistance is often cast on the individual implying that s/he is not able to care for his or her family, but according to these findings, staying on assistance can sometimes be the best decision.