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Lowndes County families of 4 need $39.50/hour to meet budget standard

Posted on by angelo
Lowndes County families of 4 need .50/hour to meet budget standard

  • According to the ALICE report, more than 24,000 households in Lowndes County are failing to meet the required standard of living.
  • Local nonprofits, including Greater Valdosta United Way, are working with the state to secure more resources for South Georgia.
  • Watch the video to hear them explain how they help their neighbors.

TRANSCRIPTION OF THE SHOW

More than 24,000 households in Lowndes County are failing to meet the required standard of living.

Local nonprofits are looking to reduce that number.

I’m Malia Thomas, your local reporter in Valdosta.

I check with these non-profit organizations to see what is being done to help them.

If you’ve been following my posts on food insecurity and housing since December, you’ll see that many neighbors are struggling to make ends meet.

Just ask Kevin Johnson, who lived it and saw it with his own eyes.

“It’s good that people donate clothes and food, but it’s not enough to keep the lights on.”

He tells me that the main problem for Valdosta is…

“Related to housing and employment.”

Jeff Sherman, another neighbor, tells me that apartments a few years ago easily cost $500 a month. Now he pays…

“$250 a week… that’s not a nice feeling.”

The Limited Assets, Limited Income, Employees or ALICE report for Lowndes County paints a similar picture.

They assessed the standard of living here and their report said that to survive, a single adult would need to earn $14.84 an hour, well above the state minimum wage of $7.25 but slightly below Lowndes’ average wage of $16.65 an hour.

Families, however, face the most difficulty, as a family of four would need $39.50 an hour to meet ALICE’s standard budget.

“We have a responsibility to take the lead not only for our own citizens, but also for the region.”

Michael Smith is CEO of Greater Valdosta United Way.

He and other local nonprofits have worked with the state to get more resources for South Georgia.

“We hope that this data on Alice is a tipping point where people can really understand what they really need to earn on an hourly basis.”

ALICE also reports that the labor force has yet to fully rebound, with 61% of the county’s labor force employed, slightly below the state average of 63%. In Valdosta, I’m Malia Thomas, a reporter for ABC27.