The cost of living has far outpaced wages in New York, according to a new "Self-Sufficiency Standard" study released Tuesday in Albany.

New York advocacy organizations and attorneys scrutinized a family’s basic needs, including housing, child care, food, health care, and transportation.

Counties in upstate New York fell into the two least expensive groups of self-sufficiency wages.

Still, the study found a single parent raising a preschooler and a school-aged child in Monroe County would need to make more than three times the federal minimum wage to meet their family's basic needs without public assistance.

"The need for continuation of childcare subsidies is a critical, critical support. There's a special program in childcare called, Child Care Dollars, which expands eligibility, that's set to expire. I think it's gonna be tough for Rochester if that program is not funded again
because without that program people lose eligibility for childcare at a 165 percent of poverty in Rochester," Susan Antos, a senior staff attorney with Empire Justice said.

The study's authors hope their findings will be used to better understand issues of income adequacy, to analyze policy, and to help individuals striving for self-sufficiency.

Self-Sufficiency Standard for NYS for 2010