Study: 38% of San Diegans Don't Make Enough to Survive

The cost of living is on the rise, making it a lot harder for some to make ends meet, and a new study released Thursday verifies that.

The Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) claims a large segment of working people in San Diego aren't making enough money to survive.

Their research shows 38 percent of all working-age people don't bring home enough money on the job to make ends meet.

Adam Carcione says he’s one of those people. He and his wife are chefs.

With his $12 an hour pay, the 27-year-old Ocean Beach father says their combined income wasn't enough to pay for rent and care for their 3-year-old son. So they moved in with his wife's mother to help pay the bills.

According to CPI, for two adults with a child, the cost of housing, child care, health care and other living expenses is more than $67,000 a year or a salary of $15.93 an hour per person.

The research director for CPI says when businesses don't pay their employees a living wage, we all pay the cost.

β€œIf an employer isn’t paying enough to sustain the person on a day to day basis, the bottom line is the rest of us pick up the tab through food stamps or other forms of public assistance. Whether it’s relatives taking care of them or churches or private groups providing food banks or other forms of charities,” explained Peter Brownell.

Minimum wage is supposed to increase from $8 to $9 this summer.

Opponents say rising wages will decrease the amount of available jobs.

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