Download the report

Getting By & Getting Ahead illustrates that the struggles facing many Illinois families did not begin with the current economic crisis. Over the last few decades wages have stagnated and incomes have declined, while the cost of basic goods has skyrocketed. Consequently, Illinoisans are under tremendous pressure to provide for their families – they have fewer resources available to pay for more. 

• In Illinois it takes an annual income of $49,030 for single parent with a preschooler and a school-age child to meet their basic needs without assistance.
• An estimated 1 million Illinois households (non-seniors) fall below the Self-Sufficiency Standard.
• 652,000 Illinois households fall between the poverty line and the Self-Sufficiency Standard for their family size.
• For working families who make too much to get assistance, half of their monthly budget goes to just two budget items: child care and housing.
• The wage needed to attain Self-Sufficiency varies around the state from a low of $12.78 in Edgar County (one parent, one preschooler, and one school-age) to $29.31 in DuPage County. Illinois’ average self-sufficiency wage is $23.22.

The Self-Sufficiency Standard helps us think more broadly about a spectrum of solutions to economic security from helping families escape poverty to crafting opportunities for families to build assets. There are three areas that we can target solutions to help families get by and then get ahead:

• Bolster the path toward self-sufficiency through employment. We need to enact strategies to build a skilled workforce, to ensure there are quality job opportunities, and to create natural linkages between workforce development, education, and training and jobs.
• Ensure that Illinoisans are able to support their families in hard times and also bridge the gap between low ways and self-sufficiency with income supports.
• Create opportunities for Illinois families to build savings and accrue assets so they not only get by, but get ahead.
  

Visit www.ilselfsufficiency.org to download fact sheets for each county and to view other resources related to the Illinois Self-Sufficiency Project. 

Subscribe to RSS