Rising Student Debt Places Living Wage Even Farther Out of Reach: Report

In most of the United States, even a $15 minimum wage isn’t enough to make ends meet—and the gap becomes a chasm if you factor in ballooning student debt.

So says a new report from the People’s Action Institute, released Tuesday, which finds that in most states, the minimum wage provides less than half of the true living wage—an amount that takes into account what families need to cover basic necessities while also saving for emergencies or planning ahead.

What’s more, adding in the median monthly student debt payment to the cost of living increases the single adult living wage to more than $16 per hour in every state, and to more than $17 per hour in most states.

According to the first-of-its-kind analysis, Waiting for the Payoff: How Low Wages and Student Debt Keep Prosperity Out of Reach (pdf):

The latest numbers from the Institute of College Access and Success, published last week, show that college graduates left school with more debt in 2015 than they ever have before. The average undergraduate borrower now faces $30,100 in loans, up four percent from 2014.