Elmira, N.Y. - A new study shows its getting tougher for families and single parents to make ends meet. According to a new self sufficiency study by George Washington University, a single parent raising four children in Chemung County would need to make over $53,000 to make ends meet without any government or private assistance. "I think they are a little off, I have a full time job I have four children and I provide for myself and the numbers that I bring home on my paycheck are totally lower," said Princess Nason, a single mother of four.
Kimberly Penfield said her paycheck falls short as well. The numbers in the suggest rank that she, along with her husband and four children should be bringing in more than $60,000dollars a year. "I don't even make half of that and I have four children, absolutely ridiculous,"said Kimberly Penfield, a married mother of four. Here's how the numbers break down locally, for the cost of living for a family of three: one single adult with an infant and pre-schooler. In Chemung county, you'd need to $46,500 dollars to pay for housing, food, transportation and health care. In Schuyler county, that number is $46,000 and in Steuben the number lowers to $45,600. In order to make ends meet, families like Kimberly's and Princess's rely on services like the Chemung Catholic Charities. "They may be working struggling to keep their job, to maintain a home, and feed their children, so Catholic Charities is pretty much that gap filler. You know they had to pay their rent so now they don't have food for the month," said Lindsay Winters, Director of Development at Chemung Catholic Charities
A spokesman for the fiscal policy institute said the study should show lawmakers the importance of funding things like child care assistance for low income families. To see how your county breaks down click here:
http://www.nyscommunityaction.org/self_sufficiency_standard.cfm
