SEATTLE, Wash. - A new report confirms what most Washington families already know, it's getting more costly to meet basic needs such as housing, food and child care.
The University of Washington report measures "self-sufficiency standards" for all 39 counties. Researchers calculated average incomes and costs of basic needs such as housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and taxes. Variables such as age of children were also included.
Lead researcher Diana Pearce says that costs continue to rise even as wages remain stagnated.
The study shows a family of one adult and two children in the Seattle area needs an annual income of more than $50,000, a standard that jumped more than 35 percent since 2001. In Spokane, a similar family would need income of more than $38,500 to meet those basic needs.














