Feb. 2, 2007 — Crittenton Women’s Union today released its latest Self-Sufficiency Standard for Boston, which shows that in 2006, the cost to live in Boston for a family of three – single parent, preschooler and school age child – was $58,133 annually, up from $51,284 in 2003, an overall increase of 13%.

This family configuration is significant in Boston, where 47% of families with children under 18 are headed by single mothers, according to the report. The Self-Sufficiency Standard is calculated for a variety of family types, including two-parent families.

In order to support her family without public or private assistance, a working single mother in a Boston family of three would need to earn $4,844 per month or an hourly wage of $27.53, the report found. That number is almost four times the current Massachusetts minimum wage of $7.50/hour. The monthly cost of health care has jumped to $343 from $228, while child care costs have risen to $1,490 from $1,226.

“The Self-Sufficiency Standard is more important now than ever,” said Elisabeth (Beth) D. Babcock, president/CEO of Crittenton Women’s Union (CWU). “We see the Standard as a concrete, measurable way to guarantee the long-term economic viability of the region. If we want to ensure that women and their families actually do move up and out of poverty, we need to make investments in education and training so that more Massachusetts residents can work toward the all-important goal of economic independence. That’s simply good business and good for the economy of the Commonwealth.”

The report highlights the challenges a growing number of Massachusetts residents face in making ends meet, given that Massachusetts continues to have one of the highest costs of living in the nation. The increase in costs this year has been led by health care and child care, with healthcare costs alone escalating 50% in Boston.

To help close the gap for the many women in Boston who are struggling to make ends meet, Crittenton Women’s Union is focusing its efforts in three key areas: housing, child care and employment. By researching and promoting “hot jobs” – high demand jobs for women that pay self-sufficiency wages and require no more than two years of post-secondary training or education, CWU is encouraging state and federal governments to make investments in the kinds of educational and technical training programs that will help women in the Commonwealth secure and succeed at family-sustaining jobs.

In addition, CWU is working with other advocacy groups and the state to secure more housing and childcare assistance, to lift some of the burden from low-income women and keep them on the path to self-sufficiency.

"The updated Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard is a critical tool for those committed to helping families on their journey beyond homelessness and poverty. It provides a strong reality check, and guides our planning around education, training, jobs and advocacy initiatives that will support families on this journey," said Sister Margaret Leonard, Executive Director of Project Hope, a Boston antipoverty agency.

To help families and others make meaningful decisions about their lives and careers, CWU has launched an interactive self-sufficiency calculator on its website ( www.liveworkthrive.org), where anyone in Massachusetts can search for their town and family type to determine costs for a particular region of the Commonwealth.

The Self-Sufficiency Standard calculates basic living costs such as housing, food, health care, child care, transportation, miscellaneous items (clothing, household supplies), and taxes. Unlike the Federal Poverty Guideline, the Standard accounts for differences in family size and configuration, geographic cost variations and the impact of taxes and tax credits. First released by The Women’s Union in 1998 and updated in 2003, the Standard provides a measurable tool that can be used to create, implement and evaluate sound educational and economic policy.

Developed through a partnership between Crittenton Women’s Union and Wider Opportunities for Women, the current and two previous reports were authored by Diana Pearce, PhD, economic researcher at the University of Washington and former Director of the Women and Poverty Project of Wider Opportunities for Women.