Danbury Wages Not Keeping Up With Cost of Living

Fact: 38% of low wage earners across the state of Connecticut cannot make ends meet.

It's hard to believe, but according to the United Way of Western Connecticut,  27% of working families in Danbury are just getting by, living from paycheck to paycheck. Approximately 38% can't keep up with the increase in the cost of living, and can't even make ends meet. Here's a sad statistic: 49% of all jobs in Connecticut pay $20 or less per hour. The United Way recently released a study that revealed specific stats about why many Connecticut families are having a rough go of it.

Housing Costs - Up 15%

Cost of Groceries - Up 20%

Childcare Costs - Up 24%

Healthcare Costs - Up a Whopping 57%

That same study found that Connecticut is within the top ten states with the largest hourly wage and housing wage gap, which means in Connecticut renters typically earn about $8 less than what is needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in the state. The worst rent and wage gap state is Hawaii. The best wage to rent gap state is North Dakota. Did you know that North Dakota hosts more than 50 local and regional rodeos per year?! Saddle up, baby. We're takin' the wagon train out west!

Listen to Ethan Carey on the Ethan & Lou Show weekdays from 5:30-10AM on 95.1 FM. You can listen online at i95rock.com/listen-live/ or by downloading the radioPup app for your mobile device.