CWU Update

CWU released this week the Massachusetts Economic Independence Index (Mass. Index), revealing that a single parent with two children needs an annual income of $61,618 in Massachusetts just to get by. Its companion report, “Hot Jobs 2010,” also released this week, identified just 11 hot jobs—occupations requiring two years or less of higher education that pay at the Mass. Index level and have more than 100 vacancies statewide—down from 26 three years ago.

“The figures we released were sobering,” said Elisabeth D. Babcock, CWU President/CEO. “Essential living costs have continued to escalate in the state, while earnings of lower-skilled workers have not kept pace. In fact, those at the bottom twenty percent of the economic ladder have seen their earnings drop by seven percent in the last three decades, and they now have fewer and fewer job opportunities that will gain them a foothold in the middle class.”

CWU produces a real cost –of-living budget and a Hot Jobs report every three years as essential tools in its work to help low-income women and their families become economically self-sufficient. This data helps low-income women determine what career choices pay enough to support a family, are attainable, and offer the most long-term opportunity.

Read the Massachusetts Economic Independence Index and the Hot Jobs 2010 report online.

You can find out how much you need to live in your town by using the online Mass. Index Economic Independence Calculator.

Click here for news coverage of the release of the Mass. Index and Hot Jobs 2010 report.

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