The (very) few places with no black-white income gap, By Tim Henderson, November 10, 2016, Stateline: “The income gap between black and white households has grown since 2000 and only worsened since the recession. In 2015, the median income for black households was 59.5 percent of that for whites, or $36,544 to $61,394. That’s a greater gap than at the end of the recession in 2009, when black income was 61.2 percent of white income. Yet, a tiny number of places exist where black household income is greater than that of whites. Of the 364 large U.S. counties whose populations are at least 5 percent black, there are seven, according to a Stateline analysis of U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data for 2010-14…”
Tag: Income
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Why more grandparents are raising children, By Teresa Wiltz, November 2, 2016, Stateline: “The number of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren is going up and increasingly it’s because their own kids are addicted to heroin or prescription drugs, or have died from an overdose. For some, it’s a challenge with little help available. In 2005, 2.5 million children were living with grandparents who were responsible for their care. By 2015, that number had risen to 2.9 million. Child welfare officials say drug addiction, especially to opioids, is behind much of the rise in the number of grandparents raising their grandchildren, just as it was during the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and ’90s. An estimated 2.4 million people were addicted to opioids at last count…”
Health Care Spending – Massachusetts
Low-income communities see fewer health care dollars, AG report finds, By Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, October 13, 2016, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts’ health insurance market has an income inequality problem, according to a report from Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, whose findings mirror national studies. The analysis found that more health care dollars are spent on higher-income communities than on lower-income communities — even though the latter tend to have greater medical needs. Healey’s office called this a ‘distressing’ trend that has persisted for years…”