A realistic minimum income tops $52,000 across South Florida. How do we achieve that?
WHEN A SOCIAL MEDIA FRIEND shared advertisement for one-room, one-bath rental in a county on the southwest coast the other day, she got 84 responses. The ad featured a photograph of a room with four white walls, a white ceiling and a ceiling fan. The boldfaced words said, “Private Room/Bathroom, $950 a month, 1,060 square feet.”
In fact, the apartment that contains the room is 1,060 square feet, not the room. That’s only a second small bedroom. “Looks like I’ll have to sign a lease that takes my entire Social Security check,” one man wrote.
“A nurse from Ohio who was hired for a job in healthcare down here… can’t take it because she can’t afford to live here,” the woman wrote.
“It’s crazy,” another concluded, echoing the thoughts of many.
What may be crazier are the complex economics — and therefore both the politics and ethics — of paying working people a wage for one full-time job that allows them to meet basic living expenses, including food, shelter that consists of more than a room, transportation and health care, without falling into poverty.
“It doesn’t matter what we do, we still don’t make a enough to live,” says Joey Holz, an activist on the southwest coast who promotes living wages for working people anywhere in Florida (website: www.mohawkjoey.com).
“Food security, health security, shelter security. Period. If you’re providing me with those three...
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