To truly understand why Oklahoma needs a $15 wage, we have to look at the households living on the razor’s edge. These are the families for whom one car repair or one missed shift doesn’t just mean a tight month, it could mean the loss of their home.
A $7.25 wage might have worked decades ago, but in today’s housing market, it is failing our state’s most vulnerable families. The newly released report from Scioto Analysis on housing affordability shows that a wage increase isn’t just about extra money, it’s about preventing a total collapse of family stability.
The Single-Income Struggle
In Oklahoma, the burden of rising rents falls heaviest on single-income households. The data shows a clear divide: households with a single breadwinner are significantly more likely to be “housing cost burdened” than those with multiple incomes.
In our state, over 70% of single-parent households are headed by a single mother. These parents face a double bind.They have only one stream of income, yet they have a greater need for larger, safer housing to raise their children. Currently, 31% of these households are struggling to pay rent, compared to 24% of male-headed households. For these families, the current minimum wage isn’t a starting wage, it’s a barrier to providing a stable childhood.
Moving Back from the “Severe” Cliff
There is a massive difference between being “cost burdened” and being “severely cost burdened.” A household is severely burdened when they spend more than 50% of their income just to keep a roof over their heads.
This is the “cliff’s edge” of the economy. When half your money goes to the landlord, there is zero room for error. The report found that raising the minimum wage to $15 would cause a 20% reduction in severe housing burden for female-headed households and 15% reduction in severe housing burden for male-headed households.
By raising the wage, we are moving thousands of families back from the edge of the cliff to a place of safety and stability.
Stability for the Whole Community
When a family has a stable home, children do better in school, parents are more productive at work, and the entire community is stronger. Conversely, when families are forced to move constantly or face eviction due to stagnant wages, the ensuing chaos hurts our local schools and neighborhoods.
Raising the minimum wage to $15 is a common-sense way to support the foundation of our state: the family unit. It ensures that those working the hardest to raise the next generation of Oklahomans aren’t doing so from a place of constant housing panic.
The Bottom Line
We have to ask ourselves: Is a $7.25 wage floor worth the cost of thousands of families living in a state of perpetual crisis? The data says no. By raising the wage to $15, we provide a foundation of security for the households that need it most.
Read the whole report from Scioto Analysis here.
