November 21, 2022 | By: Meredith Howard | Belleville News-Democrat
The minimum wage is not livable in St. Clair County, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator. With the costs of food, housing and gas increasing, it’s becoming even more difficult to take care of basic needs with low wages.
The minimum wage a St. Clair County resident needs to make in order to afford food, housing, medical care, transportation and similar necessary expenses is $16.66 for one adult with no children, according to MIT.
Illinois’ minimum wage for non-tipped workers is currently $12, while tipped workers can make a base pay of $7.20 per hour. While the Illinois minimum wage is set to increase to $15 per hour by 2025, it still won’t meet MIT’s calculation of a livable salary for a single person. (Read more…)