When Hard Work Isn’t Enough: The Urgent Need for a Living Wage
A recent New York Times article, “They Work All Day and Go Home to Shelters” (April 8, 2025), by Eliza Shapiro, offers a sobering look at life for thousands of working people in New York City: individuals who clock in daily at airports, stores, or public agencies – only to return each night to a shelter.
This is not a matter of unemployment or workforce disengagement. Rather, it reflects a structural issue in which wages have not kept pace with the cost of living.
According to the Living Wage For Us Rates Map, in 2025, the living wage in New York City is $42.49 per hour. Many of the individuals featured in the Times piece earn between $19 and $24 an hour. They are not unmotivated. They are not unskilled. They are underpaid. And in today’s economy, one unexpected event such as a medical bill, a rent increase, or a lost shift – can be enough to push a family into homelessness.
This is not unique to New York. Across the country, the rising cost of housing, healthcare, transportation, and food has created a gap between wages and essential needs. Even in Mississippi—where the cost of living is among the lowest in the U.S.—the calculated living wage is $18.66 per hour, still more than 2.5 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
Without intentional intervention, this trend will persist. Families will continue to be priced out of their communities, and the economic burden will extend beyond individual households to the broader workforce, employers, and public systems.
Living wages are a key part of the solution. By establishing compensation benchmarks based on actual living costs, employers and policymakers can create a more stable and sustainable economic foundation for working people.
Explore the Living Wage For Us Rates Map to understand how the living wage and your employee wages compare in your area – as well as what steps can be taken to align compensation with real costs.
Blog Source:
Shapiro, Eliza. “They Work All Day and Go Home to Shelters.” The New York Times, April 8, 2025.