Brighter Futures Begin with HOPE.

Why are the recommendations for building assets in “Making Mississippi Competitive” so important for families across Mississippi? The Mississippi Self-Sufficiency Standard offers a valuable lens for understanding why families may experience barriers to building assets as they struggle to make ends meet and the importance of implementing strategies to build assets for those at or below the Standard.

By adding up all the basic expenses that a family has each month, the Self-Sufficiency Standard provides a benchmark for the amount of income that families need to cover the basics. For example, in Hinds County, a family with one adult and one preschooler need $29,349. Across the state in Tippah County, the same family would need $22,945. Families that do not earn wages equivalent to this amount may struggle to cover the basics, and, equally important, may need additional support to save for their future and their children’s futures.

Taking a closer look, the graphic below provides examples of a number of high growth occupations in Mississippi and illustrates whether those opportunities provide wages equivalent for one adult and one preschooler to make ends meet without outside support. The chart illustrates that while high growth opportunities with Self-Sufficiency wages are available across the state, there are also many families that will need substantial support to build savings for higher education, emergencies, vehicles and buying a home.

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Overall, one in three Mississippi households finds themselves below the Self-Sufficiency Standard. For these families, and many above the Standard, the strategies mentioned in “Making Mississippi Competitive,” such as offering Individual Development Accounts, breaking down the barriers that keep the unbanked from developing a relationship with a financial institution, building stronger consumer protections, enhancing financial education, and creating a State Earned Income Tax Credit, all offer pathways for thousands of Mississippi families to build toward greater economic security.

Sources:

Mississippi Department of Employment Security Occupational Projections and Wages, Overlooked and Undercounted: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Mississippi, Mississippi Self-Sufficiency Standard

Author:

Sarah Welker, Policy Analyst