Economic Assistance Programs for Working Families
Part 1: Background

Read: The State of Working Wisconsin, 2002: Executive Summary
This provides background on the challenges facing Wisconsin working families.

Activity: How much do you think a single parent with two school age children in your county would need to earn to cover basic needs? The self-sufficiency wage is an estimate of how much a worker would have to earn per hour, working full time, to earn enough to meet basic needs without any kind of public or private assistance. The cost of basic needs is estimated based on local costs, and varies from county to county.

Use the Wisconsin Food Security Project website
F ind out about the self-sufficiency wage for a single parent with two school-age kids in your county. (Because this was calculated for 1999, the current self-sufficiency wage would be even higher.)

You can also use the website to find out other information about employment and earnings characteristics of your county.
To find out how to get county-specific information.

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