Median wages in Md. fail to keep up with cost of basic needs, report says

By Caitlin Johnston and Carl Straumsheim, Special to The Baltimore Sun

February 23, 2012

A family of three in Baltimore County needs about $62,000 just to make ends meet, a new report shows. And, without government assistance, minimum wage barely gets them a quarter of the way there.

In Baltimore City, that same family of an adult with a preschooler and a school-age child needs nearly $50,000, the report said, for a bare-bones budget.

The 2012 Self-Sufficiency Standard, scheduled to be released in Annapolis on Thursday morning, calculates the cost of living for Maryland families based on prices of such necessities as housing, food, transportation and child care. The report, prepared for the Maryland Community Action Partnership, found that median wages in Maryland — which have risen about 25 percent since 2001 — have failed to keep up with the increasing costs of basic needs, which are up statewide about 54 percent.

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