Just to make ends meet

Report details low-income family struggles

 A single working parent in Boston with two children is more financially secure earning the state’s minimum hourly wage of $8 and maximizing public support than one making twice that salary, according to a UMass-Boston report released yesterday.

The report shows how salary increases of just a few dollars can drastically reduce a family’s subsidies, citing “low eligibility thresholds” that hinder a family’s ability to make ends meet.

According to the report, an hourly pay raise from $11 to $16 increases a worker’s monthly income by $833, but results in an $863 loss in monthly work supports. With sharp drops in child care subsidies, Section 8 rent allowance and earned income tax credits, and a loss of eligibility for WIC and food stamps, the family’s net monthly resources fall from $547 to $391.