BUFFALO, N.Y., April 23 (UPI) -- There is a dramatic difference between achieving "basic economic security" and the federal government's "poverty line," University at Buffalo researchers say.
One of the researchers, Yunju Nam of the University at Buffalo's School of Social Work, says the Basic Economic Security Table, or BEST Index, is a report prepared jointly by the Wider Opportunities for Women and the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.
The BEST report concludes that single workers need more than $30,000 a year for economic security. Single-parents with two children need nearly twice the income -- $57,756 -- to cover basic expenses and save for emergencies and retirement, while dual-income households with two children require $67,920.
However, Nam says, those figures are well above the traditional measurements like the poverty line and minimum wage designed to show what workers require for a basic standard of living.
The 2010 national poverty level is $10,830 for a single-person family and $18,310 for a family of three, Nam says.
The BEST Index is different from the federal poverty measure because it takes into account actual spending for essentials such as food, housing, transportation and child care for a family to meet its basic needs. In contrast, the federal poverty measure is calculated based solely on food cost.
"Meeting basic monthly living expenses alone leaves a family short of genuine financial stability," Nam says.
