ITHACA, N.Y.–An analysis of local wages conducted by a credit union here will lead to a small raise for workers at some companies.
Alternatives Federal Credit Union released its biannual assessment of the living wage for Tompkins County, N.Y. and increased the amount for full-time employees with no health coverage from $14.34 to $15.11 per hour and boosted the living wage for employees with healthcare from $13.77 to $13.90, according to the Ithaca Journal.
“This is what the minimum wage should be. It is not the comfy wage; it’s not the extravagant wage; it’s the living wage,” Rob Brown, office manager and development associate at Tompkins County Workers Center, told The Ithaca Journal. “Any employer’s capacity to pay better wages also has much more increased benefits in terms of retention and ability to have a stable workforce within one’s environment.”
Alternatives FCU began calculating a living wage in 1994, and now 107 businesses in Tompkins County have pledged to honor it through the TCWC. The employees working for living wage businesses makes up about 3% of the workforce in Tompkins County.
Alternatives FCU said it looks at several factors when calculating the living wage, including rent, food, transportation, communication (cell phones, Internet), healthcare, recreation, savings, taxes and miscellaneous expenses such as shoes and cleaning products. The largest increases from the 2015 wage include an 11.6% increase in communication, 10.6% increase in miscellaneous and a 6% increase in healthcare.
The living wage is based on one person with no children. According to the data, the average one-bedroom apartment in Tompkins County is $937 a month, which is slightly down from 2015 ($943), the Ithaca Journal reported.
The underserved are often the people who earn the lowest wages and they need at least a living wage to build wealth, Eric Levine, acting CEO and general counsel for Alternatives FCU, told the publication. “Only with the capacity to save can they follow the same credit path we suggest for our members.”