1. Transportation costs do not vary as widely as is probably appropriate
to account for local commuting patterns. Counties where many people commute
to
a nearby city might have higher costs than those who live in counties closer
in. (A researcher who wants to delve into this might use the county-level
commuting data from the 2000 census.) It would also be interesting to know
what percentage of the costs in the SSS studies could be attributed to gas
costs, and be able to estimate the impact of higher gas prices on the SSS.
2. Because "miscellaneous" is a function of the total of housing, food, childcare,
healthcare and transportation (10% of that subtotal), "miscellaneous" in San
Francisco is a lot more than "miscellaneous" in Wilcox County, Alabama, which
may provide the family in expensive cities a bit more leeway than those in
small-town America. This may account in part for the phenomenon of urban young
people having what to most of us are expensive electronics, or designer shoes,
despite their families' low income. However, 10% is a lower assumption than
many other "basic needs" methodologies use.
3. The public transportation assumptions can be tricky. For example, in
Stamford, CT, many people commute to New York City by train, so use public
transportation,
satisfying the criterion for public transportation use. So the SSS assumes
public transportation for low-income people, at a rate of about $45 per month,
the cost of a local bus pass. Buses run every hour or half hour on most
routes, and may not run on weekends. (A monthly train ticket to NYC costs
$264 in Spring, 2006; a monthly ticket to nearby Norwalk is $56, and needing
a combination
of bus
and train
would
not be unusual. And railroad station parking costs at least $50 per month,
if you can get a parking spot; waiting lists are years in length. Daily
parking is far higher.)