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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Day: September 25, 2012

Census Poverty Reports

  • States see more poverty among children, unemployed, By Marisol Bello and Paul Overberg, September 22, 2012, USA Today: “States saw little relief from poverty in the past year, especially among children, the unemployed and those in the lowest income brackets. The latest Census figures show that 17 states had increases in the number of people living in poverty between 2010 and 2011. Only one state, Vermont, showed a decrease; the other 32 states showed no change…”
  • Poverty grows in high-income Washington suburbs, By Carol Morello and Annie Gowen, September 21, 2012, Washington Post: “Some mornings they line up before the door is even open. All day long, needy residents stream by the food pantry on Prosperity Avenue in Fairfax County, coming for fresh vegetables, canned goods, milk and eggs. Food for Others sits on a street whose name rings with bounty. But the number of people seeking help there has almost doubled over the past four years, as the number of poor grows. Newly released Census Bureau statistics show that poverty rates rose last year in the Washington suburbs, even as the same data showed that the region is home to seven of the 10 highest-income counties in the United States…”
  • Census paints bleak picture as 1 in 5 hit poverty level in Michigan, By Steve Pardo, September 20, 2012, Detroit News: “Incomes are down, food stamp use is up and the effects of the recession are still hammering Michiganians as the poverty rate continues to rise in both urban and suburban areas, new U.S. census data shows. A detailed snapshot of Americans’ finances to be released Thursday by American Community Survey show the state has a long road to recovery. The survey sampled some 3 million households…”
  • Milwaukee’s poverty rate stands at 29.4%, By Bill Glauber and Ben Poston, September 19, 2012, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The Great Recession is over, but the hangover remains in Milwaukee, according to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Milwaukee remained one of America’s 10 most impoverished big cities, with a poverty rate of 29.4% in 2011. The figure was unchanged from a year earlier, signaling that the economic spiral that enveloped the city’s poorest communities in recent years may have hit bottom…”
  • Poverty dips in Austin area for first time since recession, By Juan Castillo, September 20, 2012, Austin American-Statesman: “For the first time since 2007, the percentage of people living in poverty in the Austin metro area has dipped. The poverty rate also fell slightly in the City of Austin, but the percentage of children younger than 18 in poverty in the city climbed for a fourth straight year, to 29.1 percent in 2011. The figures are from voluminous data to be released today by the Census Bureau that provide the latest markers on the effects of a weakened economy but suggest that the legacy of the recession may be easing slightly in Austin. The data, however, offer a mixed view. For example, poverty grew nationally and in Texas, which had one of the highest poverty rates among the 50 states…”