3 out of 10 families not earning enough to make ends meet.

With incomes on the decline and unemployment on the rise, families are finding it harder to make ends meet, reports the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. EPI's latest family budget data shows that 30% of all households with children do not earn enough money to cover housing, food, transportation, childcare, healthcare, taxes, and other basic expenses. The annual cost of living runs highest for a family of four in major urban areas, including New York and Washington, D.C. Using the EPI'S online Basic Family Budget Calculator (www.epi.org), working families can get a reality check on the real costs of a no-frills standard of living in their area.

EDITED BY CAROLYN M. BROWN

[e-mail]

WHAT A FAMILY OF 4 NEEDS TO GET BY IN ...

DETROIT            $43,993
HOUSTON            $44,928
ATLANTA            $48,606
COLUMBUS, OH       $51,108
LOS ANGELES        $54,078
MINNEAPOLIS        $58,774
SAN FRANCISCO      $60,826
WASHINGTON, DC     $67,652
NEW YORK           $68,758
BOSTON             $68,909
NATIONAL AVERAGE   $48,778

Note: Table made from bar graph.