$14.49 an hour needed to afford Ariz. home, report says

WASHINGTON - Nowhere in the country could a minimum-wage employee afford to pay rent on a two-bedroom home, an advocacy group said Wednesday. And in three-quarters of the country, even two full-time, minimum-wage jobs couldn't pay for such housing.


The National Low Income Housing Coalition, in its annual "Out of Reach" report, found that the average U.S. employee must make nearly three times the federal minimum wage, or about $14.66 an hour, to afford a modest two-bedroom rental and still pay for food and other basic needs. In Arizona, a worker must earn $14.49 an hour.

About one-third of the nation's households are renters, said the Washington-based advocacy group. In the four years since the coalition began its study, the gap between wages and rents has widened, both during times of economic expansion and recession.

"Even as the homeownership rate rises, access to good, affordable rental housing diminishes," the report said. "Eventually the number of people who succeed as renters will become so small that the pool of potential homeowners will evaporate."

Sheila Crowley, the coalition's president, said the problem of finding affordable housing is felt throughout the nation.

"Some places are worse than others, but nowhere is housing affordable," she said.

The coalition favors increased federal spending on affordable housing and raising the minimum wage to address the issue.

Last year, about 2.2 million workers earned the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour or less, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.