Community Action Board Releases Report On Self

Header--Montgomery County, Maryland. Press Releases

Ma/selfsufficiency.pr 00-424

CONTACT: Mary Anderson, 240-777-6534

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 16, 2000

COMMUNITY ACTION BOARD RELEASES
REPORT ON SELF-SUFFICIENCY STANDARD

County officials today released the Self-Sufficiency Standard Report, Montgomery County Edition that shows a family of four needs an income of $49,668 to live at the minimum level in Montgomery County. In 1984, when the first report was done, a family of four needed $15,574 to live at the same level. Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services' Director Charles L. Short was joined by Celia Serkin, chair of the Community Action Board and Jennifer Brooks, director of research at Wider Opportunities for Women in releasing the report.

"The high cost of living in the Washington metropolitan area means that low-income working families have a difficult time making ends meet," said Short. "The County has worked to respond to the needs of its low-income residents through its Rewarding Work initiative and other programs and we will continue to look for ways to help people in need."

Components of the Rewarding Work Initiative include the first locally enacted Earned Income Tax Credit in the nation, health care for uninsured adults, housing, job training and transportation assistance. In addition, the County provides school-based health care services and child care subsidy programs, including the Working Parents Assistance Program.

The report was previously known as the Report on the Minimum Standard of Need. The Year 2000 updated edition was prepared by Wider Opportunities for Women for the Community Action Board, WOW, a locally based national non-profit organization, has published self-sufficiency standard reports for 14 other jurisdictions throughout the United States.

Self-sufficiency standards, as determined by the board, indicate the lowest acceptable amount of money needed by a family to live in the County. The report is intended to show that the federal poverty income guidelines-which are used to determine eligibility for federal and state program-do not reflect the high cost of food, housing and basic living costs. The federal poverty income standard for a family of four is $17,050.

Information in the report was gathered for representative families. The family of four in the report includes two working parents, one school-aged child and one pre-school child, who requires child care. The family of three in the report includes one working parent, a school-aged child and one pre-school child, who requires child care.

This is the sixth report produced by the board. Other studies were done in 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994 and 1997. In previous reports it was assumed that in the two parent family, one adult worked part-time and provided child care for the pre-school aged child. This situation greatly reduced the cost of child care and thus a family of four required less income than a family of three with two children with the same child care requirements. In the present economy, there is agreement that in calculating the basic income needs of a family, in the vast majority of families, both parents work full time.

Since the last report was issued, minimum income levels in the County have risen 49 percent for a family of four and 4.6 percent for a family of three. This year, the minimum income for a family of three is $44,556 per year.

Other expenses include food, household supplies, over-the counter drugs, utilities, clothing, laundry, telephone and child care. Miscellaneous items include insurance, appliance purchase and repair, furniture, newspapers and magazines, recreation and emergency reserve funds.

An ad-hoc committee of the Community Action Board partnered with Wider Opportunities for Women to develop the Montgomery County edition of the report. The Community Action Board is comprised of volunteer members appointed by the County Executive to assess the needs of low-income residents and monitor County policies affecting them.

A summary of data is attached.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Copies of the report can by obtained by calling the Community Action Board at 301-565-7460.

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