Oregon Cost of Living Outpacing Wages

A recent wage gap study done in Oregon found that the cost of living is rising faster than the wages that people are earning.

The study shows that the high cost of health care is the biggest problem, but elevated prices to rent and buy housing and even transportation is also a problem.

Experts say when people try to find enough money to provide health care when they are just making enough to get by often causes a ripple effect of problems.

Roxanne Johnson and her son live at Lilac Meadows Apartments, which is an affordable housing complex in Medford.

Johnson has a degree in human communication and for two years she was a social worker, but things changed when Johnson found out her son needed some extra attention.

"I found out my little boy was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder to readjust my life and stop working full time,” said Johnson.

Johnson quickly found that finding work and providing for her youngster wasn't easy. She now works part time and relies on the housing authority for help.

“The social services that I used to provide for my clients, I’m now seeking out for myself,” she said.

The Jackson County Housing Authority says over the past few years they have seen an increase in working people and parents needing help.

"We're noticing a lot of families that do work are having a harder time making ends meat because of the rents. So we are having a lot of people coming in that have previously done ok but now that rent is going up they are having a harder time,” said Cara Carter of the Jackson County Housing Authority.

For a single adult, on average, the state wage is $11.67 an hour. A single adult with a child is about $19.65 an hour.

The kicker is the percent of jobs available paying less than a living wage is high.

For a single parent with one child looking for a job, nearly 73% of all openings are paying less than it costs to live.

Oregon action says it’s not that people aren't working it’s that certain areas like health care are too high for households to manage.

"Living wages has gone up seven percent, cost of living has gone up 14-percent, and the health costs have gone up 37-percent," said Rich Rohde of Oregon Action.

Rohde says in order to make a dent in the living wage problem there needs to be some big changes in health care and then the rest will follow.

Now you might be thinking about how Oregon's minimum wage is one of the highest in the county, however the minimum wage still pays about $3.60 less than what it takes to make a living wage in Oregon.