Emily Griffes spends her mornings taking classes at Lansing Community College, her afternoons at an unpaid internship with Citadel Broadcasting Corp., in Lansing, and her evenings working at The Summit at the Capital Centre, a sports complex in Dimondale, Mich. Amid her hectic schedule, she also is responsible for juggling the costs of renting an apartment, paying the bills and tuition.
All this she does on an $8.50 hourly wage.
“I’m always worrying I’m not going to have enough money to pay my bills,” the journalism senior said.
Griffes’ story is not an uncommon one among college students today. With tuition increasing, students are struggling to live on meager salaries offered at entry-level jobs.
A report released last month by Wider Opportunities for Women, or WOW, in partnership with the Michigan League for Human Services, or MLHS, showed minimum wage workers in Michigan do not earn enough to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
The report cited WOW’s Basic Economic Security Tables, or BEST, Index, which examines the level of earnings a typical Michigan family had to make in 2010 to maintain a financially secure household.
The organization collected data for all Michigan counties in both urban and rural settings to compile a statewide average.
For a single worker, the BEST Index reported that a wage of $12.24 an hour, or $25,848 a year, is ideal for secure living. In contrast, Michigan’s current minimum wage is $7.40 an hour, or $15,629 a year.
Matt Unrath, Family Economic Security Program associate at WOW, said the report — the first of its kind for Michigan — is based on the most basic data for people below a middle-class salary.
“The most shocking thing is the final income tally, how much a family really needs to earn to make ends meet,” Unrath said. “It costs a single parent a relatively high income to make ends meet, and a lot of jobs available are just not going to be enough for comfortable living.”
Griffes, who worked three jobs last year to support herself, said even though her income does not allow much luxury, she could not imagine living entirely on minimum wage.
“I don’t see how they could (function),” she said. “If I didn’t take out student loans and have that to fall back on as the month gets tight, there’s no way that I could live how I live right now, and I don’t live excessively by any means.”
Balancing a budget
MSU alumna Erin O’Connell also faced financial hardship during college.
O’Connell — headed to Syracuse University in the fall to study library and information science — said she will have amassed $70,000 in debt from student loans by the end of her two-year graduate program. She participated in a federal work-study program while at MSU, receiving about $1,500 per semester but still relied heavily on student loans.
Her situation worsened as a senior when her mother lost her job. Although her parents did not pay her tuition, her mother’s job loss did not qualify her for further need-based scholarships or loans.
“It was depressing,” O’Connell said. “I worked really hard. I graduated with a great (grade-point average), and I felt like I should have gotten more for my hard work.”
Unrath said many students depend entirely on student loans to pay for tuition. Although the report does not take into account student loans, its figures on single workers are relevant to students who are entering the workforce, he said.
“High-interest loans can do a lot of damage to an income,” he said. “It takes a long time to repay, and it points to high expenses for college students. When they graduate, there’s not a lot of jobs available to them, period.”
Judy Putnam, communications director for MLHS, said some college students doubt the benefits of education, but a report released by MLHS last year showed definite salary differences between educated and uneducated workers.
“While it’s been a really tough job market the last couple of years, and while college students may be struggling initially, we know their long-term earnings are more promising,” she said.
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Seeking out solutions
“There’s no magic wand to solve economic insecurity or poverty,” Unrath said. “Even (though) hardworking families are earning some level of income in order to achieve a middle class income, a job in America no longer means economic security.”
Economics professor Charles Ballard said the Michigan minimum wage caters to all incomes, not specifically to those at or below the federal poverty line of $10,830.
“The thing that would be really good is if the people’s wages in the absence of government intervention were higher,” Ballard said. “If we could get everyone to finish high school and get people to work for 15 dollars an hour, well, then we’ve conquered poverty.”
Putnam said the rate has not been adjusted for inflation, and the disparity between standards of living is likely to get worse until legislative action is taken. The number of low-wage jobs is expected to increase through 2018, according to the BEST Index report. But wages are expected to remain low, and struggling workers will have to find ways to economize.
“I don’t spend frivolously. I look for sales, I clip coupons, I do what I have to do to get by,” Griffes said.
“I think it probably will prepare me better for when I get out into the real world, because I know what it’s like to support myself now. I don’t get to do a whole lot for me. My money is spent on bills before I even make it.”
