Graduate Center for the Study of Early Learning

The University of Mississippi School of Education

The Cost of a Hamburger

Posted on: August 20th, 2018 by Cathy Grace

On Saturday August 18, approximately 80 child care providers, child advocates, parents and state agency personnel met to comment on Mississippi’s Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plan. CCDF is a program that provides federal funds to child care centers who are eligible to receive payments for the care and education of children, birth through 12 years of age whose parents qualify based on income. The parents who work or go to school or who are in job training have an opportunity to receive funds so their children can attend a child care center based or family based program, if the programs meet the licensing regulations as set forth by the state.  Each state submits a plan to the Administration on Children. Young and Families (ACF) in Washington for their approval. The plan sets forth how the state will meet the requirements listed that allows the funds to be allocated to the Mississippi Department of Human Services for dissemination to providers and support agencies.

More funds have been allocated to states to serve low income children than in years previously from the federal government. This is very good news for Mississippi’s children since according to the Annie E. Casey Kids Count Mississippi ranks 48th in the country on child economic well-being. Given the minimum wage in Mississippi is $7.25 an hour, a family of four,(2 children and 2 parents who work full time at  minimum wage), would not be able to afford housing, food, utilities, car payment, any medical bills AND child care. As long as the state endorses the bare minimum as a wage to be paid, the reality that working families at the bottom of the wage chain need supports such as CCDF to have a life worth living.

We need to ask ourselves as residents of a state that is struggling to get past the notion that we are still indifferent to the thousands who are stuck in low wage jobs, what are we doing differently? According to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, Mississippi’s unemployment rate fell in January 2018 to 4.6%, which is the lowest level of unemployment ever recorded in Mississippi. If we have such good unemployment statistics, why is our family median income so far below that of other states? According to the ACS 1 year survey, the median family income for Mississippi was $52,672 in 2016 which when compared to the median US family income, is $18,390 lower. The minimum wage rate in Mississippi is one factor, but so could be part-time vs full time employment and the lack of job training programs that allow for a career ladder to be utilized that would result in a higher wage for employees. Maybe it is due to the large number of franchised companies located in the state where the decisions about wages are not even made by CEOs who live here. Maybe it is the failure of economic developers to support small business owners with programs that can be utilized to increase the pay of workers similar to corporate packages that are offered for large corporations to relocate in the state. Regardless, the “working poor” keep the fast food businesses open, the convenience stores stocked, the dishes washed in your favorite restaurant, and sweep floors and other tasks that no one else will do for the wage offered.

If we believe the person who hands us our burger deserves a quality of life beyond living in crisis from one struggle to the next, we can push for a higher minimum wage. According to the Living Wage Calculator, a Mississippi family with 2 working parents with one child has to make an hourly wage of $21.36. Our minimum wage is $7.25. You do the math and think long and hard about our duties as citizens and the faithful.

by Dr. Cathy Grace