What's a living wage in Detroit? What are obstacles to employment?

[aoife]

Hi, I've never been to Detroit, so I don't know much about the cost of living there. But I'm curious to find out from people who live there how much a single parent of, say, two young children needs to earn in order to live modestly but independently? $10/hour? $20/hour?

It will depend on how old your children are, where you decide to live, and whether or not you have outside support for them [[like child support). I live in an area that has extremely limited childcare facilitites for infants so we send our littlest to an in-home daycare center. It runs us a little over $1000 a month. In the summertime when her school age sister needs care we add another $700 a month. When you add the cost of gas and parking into it, I pretty much work for the privilidge of going to work during the summer months. I know there are places in the city that are cheaper, but you have to find one that you are comfortable with. If your kids just need latchkey, most schools run it for about $20-25 a day [[for before and after care). I am sure there are programs available to help low-income families, but you may not qualify if you are making $20 an hour.