Do You Make a Living Wage?
Many times when you are looking for job postings, you’ll see the term ‘competitive salary’ or something of the sort. But what does that really mean? Competitive to what? The area? The industry? Hmmm….
To be honest with you, all of the smoke and mirrors around salary is very frustrating to me. Whatever the benefits are, the negatives far outpace them. Think about this: for many government workers, their salary is a matter of public record. So to be secretive about pay rates smacks of inequity and unfairness.
But this post isn’t really about pay transparency; it is about looking at your pay, and determining if it is enough to support you and your family. I think it is important to not be gaslit into thinking that you are bad at managing money or that you are overpaying for things — when the reality is your income is just not sufficient to fully cover your cost of living.
So let’s clear the fog. There is an amazing resource out there called the Living Wage Calculator. You can drill down to your specific geographic area — by both country and metropolitan area (if you are in a city). For example, here is the one for Cleveland, OH.
This NBC special is from 2 years ago, but it is still applicable. I love how it features a single mother* here in Cleveland; as well as Policy Matters Ohio:
Sidebar
* – the single mother featured also has another confounding issue: she has a felony on her record that bars her from employment in many places. God willing, I will write another post just on that topic soon!
If you are an employer, you can also partner with the Living Wage Institute to help develop a strategic plan to pay your staff a living wage. You are the other side of the equation. The inequity must stop where it begins.
