In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke these words: “Our nation, so richly endowed with natural resources and with a capable and industrious population, should be able to devise ways and means of insuring to all our able-bodied working men and women a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.”

Our society still has not fully realized this aspiration, but we believe that every adult regardless of personal circumstances should have an opportunity to gain the education and skills needed to earn a living wage.What is a living wage in Washington, D.C.?

According to a recent study, for Washington the self-sufficiency standard is $8  per hour for a single person. This is an annual salary of about $16,000. For a parent and one pre-school child the salary is $33,000. For one adult, one pre-school child, and one school age child, the self-sufficiency standard is $47,000. For two adults, one pre-school child, and one school age child, the self-sufficiency standard is $52,000.

Less income in each family unit typically means that some of the attributes of a decent life will be either missing or inadequate.