What Does It Take For A Single Parent To Get By In Mass.?

There's encouraging news today about jobs in Massachusetts. According the office of Labor and Workforce Development, the state unemployment rate dropped to 6.5 percent last month, and Massachusetts has now regained all of the jobs lost in the recession.

The state jobless rate is a full percentage point below the national rate, which fell to a four-year low of 7.7 percent. So that's the good news. The bad news is there are still lots of Bay Staters out of work. And the divide between available jobs and the people with the skills to fill them is growing.

And consider this number: $65,880 a year. That's what it takes for a single parent with two kids to cover the basic needs in in Massachusetts, including housing, child care, food and fuel. And for someone without a four-year college degree, it's more difficult than ever to earn that.

That number comes from a new report by the Crittenton Women's Union, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income women and families in Massachusetts. According to the report, the growing gap between skills and jobs is shrinking the middle class, and causing more people to fall into poverty.

Guest

Deborah Youngblood, vice-president of research and innovation, Crittenton Women's Union

You can read the full report here.