COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County’s economy continues to move forward, but the growth in recent years has left behind many who are struggling to make at least a living wage to get by.
The most recent data indicates that for a single adult to meet basic needs or a living wage, the required pay is $9.93 an hour with an annual income of almost $21,000. For a single parent, the needed hourly wage jumps to $18.38 and an annual income of $38,000.
The living wage situation was the program topic at last week’s meeting on Thursday of the Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary Club. The guest speaker was Julia McIntyre, Legal Advocate for the Branch County Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She cited data from the annual Kid’s Count, which examines state and local trends in child well-being.
McIntyre pointed to the Coalition’s Getting Ahead program for families with budget planning the focus. According to McIntyre, the spending lists are long on expenses which somehow have to be cut so families can carve out a life that is workable and simple. Those expenses include everything from a cell phone, the internet, a credit card and she says the list goes on and on.
The Kids Count data has 16 indicators that measure economic security, health and safety, family and community, and education.
