What's The Difference Between Minimum Wage and Living Wage in Atlanta?

Although there's a push to increase Georgia's minimum wage, the state and the city of Atlanta fall under the federal standard of $7.25 an hour.

Many workers in certain occupations in the Atlanta and DeKalb County area earn less than the living wage, according to an analysis from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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The living wage calculation, reported by MIT, shows that a living wage is $10.10 for one adult in Atlanta and DeKalb County. A living wage for two adults with two children is $19.52. The analysis shows the hourly rate needed by individuals to support their family as a sole provider working full time.

The analysis includes food, medical care, child care, housing and transportation among the necessities for a living wage. Those occupations below the living wage include food preparers and servers, personal care and services, and building and grounds maintenance with typical hourly wages of $8.65, $8.97 and $9.96, respectively. The calculation is based on the living wage for one adult who supports one child.

Other workers falling below the living wage are in healthcare support, protective service, sales, office support, farming, forestry, construction, installation, production and transportation.

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Typical wages above the living wage are in the management, financial, computer, engineering, legal, education, arts and technical fields, according to the analysis.

The Georgia state minimum wage is actually $5.15 for employees not covered under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Those jobs are often positions for wages and tips. The federal standard of $7.25 applies to all other workers.

A proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 was sponsored by Georgia State Sen. Donzella James. During calls for a $15 minimum wage for the state and the nation, James said she supported the higher pay hike, but the $10.10 is a realistic compromise since it is the same figure brought up for an increase in the federal minimum wage, according to The Signal.

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