UW researcher battles poverty by the numbers

Rising inflation pales the increase of minimum wage that is causing many low-income families to suffer. And while many may ignore this fact, Diana Pearce, director of the Center for Women's Welfare and a lecturer at the School of Social Work, is attempting to address this problem with a solution that many states and programs have already adopted.

Pearce is part of the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Project, which provides information and assistance regarding human resource investment policies to advocates from various communities and states, attempting to aid underpriviledged families.

With the help of a strong support staff, Pearce developed the Self-Sufficiency Standard, a method of calculating how much money working adults need without subsidies of any kind, according to the project's Web site. The approach is guided by six strategies.

The project study, which began in 1996, has assessed 35 individual states, including Washington.

Pearce said each report requires five to six months of preparation.

"The report has become a sort of diagnostic tool for Washington state," Pearce said.

The project's Web site and the King County Workforce Development Council Web site link to the Self-Sufficiency calculator, which calculates how much an individual needs to earn to be considered self-sufficient in a specific area. Factors include number of dependents, income, college attendees, babysitter costs, transportation mileage and cost, among other criteria.

"The standard for self-sufficiency is a measure of poverty, thereby changing the state and support programs' view on poverty," Pearce said.

While many attribute the cause of poverty to choice, Pearce holds a different view.

"It is not usually a budget problem or a byproduct of poor choices," she said.

Eighty-five percent of families below the income standard have a worker in the household, 50 percent of whom are employed full time and year round, Pearce said.

"A solution to this issue would be more work support from the state and an increase in minimum wage," she said.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation is on the rise. The national consumer price index is .4 percent, and the national minimum wage is $5.15. Washington state's minimum wage is $7.93.

Pearce said although minimum wages are adjusted in calculation with the consumer price index (CPI), "The rate of increase is not enough [HTML_REMOVED] it fails to match the increase of the CPI."

Through the grapevine, Pearce was told that a YMCA in Washington has implemented the report's data when working with individuals on welfare.

College counselors at North Seattle Community College have used the calculator tool to guide some students on their course sequences.

Moreover, Pearce's study and the calculator are analyzed in the UW School of Social Work's introductory classes.

Washington's latest report will be completed and available in mid-June on the Self-Sufficiency Standard Web site, sixstrategies.org.

Reach contributing writer Janice Balangue at news@thedaily.washington.edu.