Minimum Wage Makes It Nearly Impossible to Pay Rent Comfortably
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Do you ever wonder how those who make minimum wage get by with everyday expenses?
A study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition helps prove just how hard it is for those workers. The study found that in none of the 50 states can a person earning minimum wage afford a 2 bedroom apartment, at fair market rate, which is $756 in Madison County.
In Tennessee, a minimum wage worker would have to work 76 hours a week in order to not spend a third of their income on housing.
The current minimum wage in Tennessee is $7.25.
Jackson residents have differing views on the study.
“Oh, I believe they can if they put their priorities in the right place,” Nancy Cannedy, a Jackson resident said. ” [They should] quit smoking and drinking and put their money into a house.”
“I’ve worked minimum wage jobs where both of us were working minimum wage jobs and had a rough time with one bedroom apartment,” Samantha Oliver, a Jackson resident, said.
Republican members on a house subcommittee voted Wednesday to kill a Democrat-sponsored bill that would have established a Tennessee state minimum wage of $8.25 per hour for employees of companies that do not provide health care insurance.
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