Almost one in three households in Alaska earn more than the federal poverty line but still cannot afford basic living costs, according to a new study reported by KTOO.
The station spoke to Naomi Estes, a single mother of two in Chugiak who earns $70,000 a year with the Anchorage School District but cuts back on groceries and does her own home repairs and car maintenance. After-school care for her sons costs almost $1,200 a month.
Jon Bittner of the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, who advised on the study, said wages had not kept pace with rising costs. He argued that the federal poverty line does not reflect the real cost of living, meaning many families struggling to get by do not qualify for assistance programmes that use it as a threshold.
Source: KTOO
