Underemployed compound state’s jobless troubles, By Tom Abate, October 26, 2009, San Francisco Chronicle: “San Francisco resident Elena Duran represents an unfortunate job trend that isn’t reflected in the unemployment rate. For years, Duran has been a full-time server at a downtown hotel. But the recession has cut so deeply into business that her hours were cut to half time in July. ‘It’s better than a layoff, but it still requires a lot of sacrifices,’ said Duran, who, along with her working husband, supports three sons. Because she works, Duran doesn’t count in California’s 12.2 percent unemployment rate. But her situation is captured by a broader measure, the underemployment rate, which, in addition to the jobless, includes people who could get only part-time work as well as those who want jobs but were too discouraged to look…”
Day: October 26, 2009
Report: Child Poverty – South Dakota
Needs grow for children amid creeping poverty, By Josh Verges, October 25, 2009, Sioux Falls Argus Leader: “Wendy Klinsing used to volunteer serving food to the needy. But with her husband’s bartending income slashed by a poor economy, she now holds down expenses by eating a weekly meal at The Banquet. ‘We might start going twice a week for Christmas,’ Klinsing said Thursday as her 6-year-old daughter complained about the lasagna. ‘They don’t know about the economy. They still want presents.’ Child poverty indicators in Sioux Falls are at historic highs. And while state government faces a serious budget squeeze, some advocates are hopeful the recession will bring heightened awareness to the plight of the poor – and with it changes in policy to help more struggling families. After years of slow growth, the percentage of public elementary schoolchildren signed up for free and reduced-price lunches hit 41.5 at the end of May, a 2.9-point increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, the local waiting list for Head Start, the federally funded preschool program for children in poverty, reached a record 301 in a September count. School officials say there are 330 more students on the list who are considered below the self-sufficiency marker of 200 percent of the federal poverty line…”
Alternative Measures of Poverty in the US
- Poverty study receives praise, By Amanda McElfresh, October 26, 2009, Daily Advertiser: “Local researchers who study poverty and its effects across the state say they are encouraged by the U.S. Census Bureau’s decision to release revised estimates of how many Americans are living in poverty. The new formula, developed in part by the National Academy of Science, shows that about 47.4 million Americans lived in poverty last year, about seven million more than originally estimated. In addition, almost 18 percent of children lived in poverty, a slight decrease from the number found using the traditional formula…”
- 3.6M older Americans living in poverty, By Saul Friedman, October 23, 2009, Newsday: ” We cannot take much comfort in the latest census figures on poverty among older Americans. It is true that the 2008 poverty rate, 9.7 percent among people 65 and older, was unchanged from 2007. But that 9.7 percent, according to the census tables, represents about 3.6 million people who are living on $10,326 a year, or $14,051 for a couple. That probably means Social Security is their only income; indeed, for half the population over 65, Social Security is the primary source of income. Yet, those figures don’t take into full account of the effects of the prolonged and deepening recession on older people…”
- U.S. needs better way measure poverty, By Terry Haven, October 23, 2009, Salt Lake Tribune: “On Oct. 19, the Census Bureau released alternate poverty rates based on recommendations from a National Academy of Sciences panel on measuring poverty. No state data were given in the report, but new figures show a national poverty rate of 15.8 percent rather than the 13.2 percent poverty rate released just weeks ago using the traditional formula. The poverty rate for the Western Region rose from 13.5 percent to 19 percent. There is increasing agreement among policymakers and advocates that the current federal poverty measure is broken and outdated. The advent of these poverty figures is a good time to reflect on the inadequacies of our poverty measure and the crucial need to update this outdated statistic…”