It’s more than a little obvious to students at Boston University that Boston is a pretty pricey place to live. Between the costs of housing, food and utilities, many students find themselves writing home to beg for more money or taking on extra jobs. But as expensive as Boston is, the surrounding towns in the Bay State are apparently not that much more affordable.
According to a Monday report released by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 1 in 4 residents receives a yearly income under the $18,800 poverty line, striking a huge income gap between the Commonwealth’s rich and poor. Although Massachusetts, a forward-thinking state, has better health care and poverty services than most other states, the Bay State’s poverty rate is higher than ever. Worse still, more than half of those under the poverty line are high school graduates.
“Over the past 25 years, the economy has left behind more and more high school graduates,” the report stated. “Even some education after high school is no longer a solid guarantee of a middle class wage. There are, of course, decent jobs with good wages that do not require a four-year college degree. But many of these jobs require more than a high school diploma, and often require a two-year college degree or special training.”
But apparently, even those with college degrees should start budgeting more carefully. It’s easier for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher to get a decent job and make a middle to upper class lifestyle, but even the median wage for the college-educated has shown little progress. And when college graduates pass down tales of bad luck in finding jobs, housing and the means to live, especially in Boston, these statistics are not that surprising.
Obviously Boston, as one of the wealthiest cities in one of the wealthiest states in the country, is going to be expensive. And Boston Mayor Martin Walsh isn’t totally oblivious to the fact, claiming that he has established several initiatives to remedy Boston’s glaring income gap.
“Mayor Walsh has aimed to address many of the contributing factors leading up to poverty by instituting a number of programs and initiatives,” Gabrielle Farrell, a spokeswoman for Walsh, said to The Daily Free Press in a Thursday article. “Recently, he opened an Office of Financial Empowerment in Dudley Square, Roxbury and has been constantly working to address and improve matters of chronic homelessness and recovery services.”
Aside from Boston, Massachusetts has taken steps to address poverty. In June, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill to raise the minimum wage from the current $8.00 per hour, which is not the lowest in the country, $1.00 each year, ultimately capping off at $11.00 per hour by 2017, which will be the highest minimum wage in the United States.
“Raising the minimum wage brings a little relief to the working poor, many of whom do jobs we could not live without and who recycle money right back into the economy,” Patrick said in a June 26 press release. “By signing this bill, we show the Nation that opportunity can and must be spread outward, not just upward. I thank the Legislature for their important work in reaching this milestone.”
We at The Daily Free Press are hardly economists, so it’s difficult for us to give an accurate prediction on whether or not this will remedy income disparities. Yet, raising the minimum wage does seem more like a Band-Aid than a long-lasting solution.
Although low minimum wages certainly account for a bevy of economic problems, people in Massachusetts struggle to make ends meet largely because living costs are so high, and they aren’t getting any lower. NStar, the company who provides retail electricity and natural gas to central and eastern Massachusetts, raised its electric rates for the winter, sending utility bills through the roof. Coupled with rent bills rarely under $800 a month, getting by in Massachusetts costs a bundle.
Admittedly, BU students are sheltered. Cushioned with guaranteed four-year housing in luxurious digs like Student Village II and brownstones on Bay State Road, leaving BU for the real world is a real culture shock. Unless someone is willing to live in a rural or less-developed area, living costs are inevitably going to be high.
We’re not saying BU should cut down on the living perks to prepare us for the real world, but perhaps it’s time for Massachusetts to spend some time adjusting living costs to more affordable rates. As a wealthy state, being poor in Massachusetts is far better than being poor in a more underprivileged area, but the glare of the income gap is too strong to ignore.
