Economy - Jobs with Family Sustaining Potential
% of Jobs with Family Sustaining Potential
47.7%
The percent of jobs with family sustaining potential is somewhat lower in Larimer than Colorado as a whole.
This metric captures the percentage of jobs that have median hourly earnings above the
MIT Living Wage threshold for the same geography for a 2 adult and 2 child family with 2 wage earners a given threshold (see gray box below).
It is representative of the percent of jobs that either currently or have the potential for workers to earn at or above that threshold.
It does not represent the proportion of jobs that do currently earn above that level.
MIT Living Wage for a 2 adult, 2 child family
(based on 2 workers at this level)
$17.84/hour
(based on 2 workers at this level)
$17.84/hour
Why do we track this? Jobs shouldn't just be measured by the number we have or how fast they grow. We also need to ask: how many good jobs are here? Defining "good" is difficult, but most people can agree that a good job allows a person to meet their financial needs and sustain their family.
This chart shows the percent of jobs above threshold for Colorado and Colorado MSAs.
The Colorado Center on Law and Policy produced a report in 2018 that estimated the income needed to sustain a family: provide for basic needs and save a modest amount to weather emergencies. These estimates were produced for each County in Colorado for a variety of family types.
Three examples are shared here. Click on a legend item to show/hide that data series.
How else can this be measured? This is a difficult thing to measure.
There is no single number that can be pinpointed as the dollars needed to sustain all unique families: families come in various sizes with different financial needs.
The income a family needs to thrive will vary on number of earners, number of dependents (and their ages),health and educational needs of family members, other sources of financial resources or outstanding debts, and homeowner vs. renter status, just to name a few of the major variables.
Beyond the two tools highlighted on this page, there are multiple methodologies for estimating a sustainable wage needed to support a specific size of household.
Another example is the Colorado Cost of Living Study.
Why did we use this source? We followed the general methodology used by another region.
Why did we use this source? We followed the general methodology used by another region.
Data Sources
- U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics for Metropolitan Areas.
- MIT Living Wage Calculator "Living Wage" estimates using established methodology for MSAs, Counties, and States. Updated annually in Q1
Related Dashboard Measures
- Average Weekly Wage (Business Vitality)
- % of Household Income Spent on Housing + Transportation (Quality of Life)
- Cost of Child Care (Quality of Life)
- Median Household Income (Vital Stats)
- Poverty Rate (Quality of Life)
- Income Equity (Quality of Life)
Additional Information and Other Data Sources
- Views of Job Situation Improve Sharply, but Many Still Say They're Falling Behind Financially. Pew Research Center, Nov. 2017.
- Moving Beyond Job Creation. Pacific Community Ventures, 2016. Report defining 5 facets of good quality jobs and measuring the value of jobs created.
- Prioritizing Job Quality. Brookings Institute, 2016.
- Colorado Self Sufficiency Standard, 2018, Colorado Center on Law and Policy.
- U.S. Census Bureau Poverty Thresholds.
