Poverty often a temporary state, U.S. census study finds, By Ari Bloomekatz, March 28, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Donny Ashley misses the days when he was just barely poor. Sure, he commuted more than three hours each day to work as an electrical apprentice, but the paycheck – about $575 a week – put his family of four over the federal poverty threshold. But then the economy turned, and he lost his job. His wife managed to get work as a nurse but lost that job about a month ago. Now, having burned through their savings, the Watts family has gone from barely poor to officially poor. ‘It’s not a good feeling to be, not necessarily above the poverty line, but somewhat, almost having your head above water where you can breathe. Now I’m drowning,’ Ashley said. ‘It’s a constant feeling of struggle, like no end in sight.’ A report released recently by the U.S. Census Bureau suggests that Ashley’s roller coaster ride along the poverty line is not unusual. The study found that poverty was often a temporary state for households: As some families moved out of poverty, others moved in. The report also showed that many of those families that escaped poverty continued to generate only minimal incomes…”
Tag: Newly poor
Arizona Republic Series: Losing Ground, Arizona’s Middle Class
- Arizona’s middle class: Defining American ideal, By Betty Beard, January 23, 2011, Arizona Republic: “America’s middle class has never been easy to define, measure or study. It’s loosely seen as those falling between the impoverished and the rich, the vast group that makes enough money to aspire to the American dream. The dream varies depending on the individual. But generally, “middle class” means enough to live on, with a little bit more. It means in typical times, you can support a household, buy a home and pay a mortgage, afford medical care, help the kids with college costs and plot out a comfortable retirement. With the ‘little bit more,’ you can indulge – an upgraded smartphone, a relaxing vacation, a better car. ‘It’s a headache trying to define,’ said John Russo, of the Center for Working Class Studies at Ohio’s Youngstown State University. It would seem obvious that the middle class could be defined by money – perhaps broadly, such as those between the 20th and 80th percentiles in income, or more narrowly, such as those earning a certain percentage below or above the median income. In Arizona, the median income last year was almost $33,000. But Philadelphia-based economist Joel Naroff said that defining the middle class based solely on income can be misleading…”
- Arizona’s middle class: Poverty casts longer shadow, By Betty Beard, January 24, 2011, Arizona Republic: “Gas prices hover near $3. Medical costs are on the rise, and child care can be expensive. And there’s always an emergency home repair that just wasn’t in the budget. It’s hard to climb back to a middle-class lifestyle after a tumble into joblessness and poverty, as many Arizonans are finding. In September, the U.S. Census Bureau said Arizona had the nation’s second-worst poverty rate in 2009, behind Mississippi. The percentage of impoverished Arizonans was said to have increased to 21 percent in 2009 from 18 percent in 2008. The one-year change highlights the devastating impact of the Great Recession in Arizona, which typically falls in the upper third of the 50 states for high poverty rates. The lower-middle class, in particular, faces a shaky short-term outlook…”
- Arizona’s middle class in crisis: Many are barely hanging on, By Betty Beard, January 23, 2011, Arizona Republic: “Arizonans are coming to terms with a harsh reality: Life is different now. Fundamentally, profoundly different. More than 3 1/2 years after home prices peaked, and three years after the recession began, the economic aftershocks continue. In the job-networking groups and the partially built subdivisions, in the nervous break-room conversations, many middle-class dreams are under siege…”
Recession and Homelessness
- More families became homeless in recession, By Henri E. Cauvin, January 13, 2011, Washington Post: “During the throes of the recession, the number of homeless people in the United States increased, and the number of homeless families increased at an even greater rate, according to a report released Wednesday. The findings by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, although not surprising, confirm the harsh toll that the recession – which began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009 – took on families. Historically, people struggling with mental illness, substance abuse or other chronic problems have been the focus of government homelessness efforts, and until recently the number of such homeless people had been declining. But the recession, which has led to rising unemployment and declining social services, has slowed progress among the chronically homeless and increased numbers of the newly homeless, among them many families, according to the alliance’s report…”
- Foreclosures, homelessness surge in Alabama, By Jeremy Gray, January 13, 2011, Birmingham News: “The number of foreclosed homes across Alabama doubled between 2008 and 2009, even as the state’s total homeless population grew 13 percent, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The alliance used data from federal agencies to monitor the change in the homeless population, with 30 other states and Washington, D.C., reporting increases. There were an estimated 6,080 homeless people in Alabama as of 2009, according to the report. The nation’s total homeless population grew 3 percent in that time to a total of 656,129. Also, between 2008 and 2009, the number of homeless families in Alabama grew 7 percent, while the number of unsheltered homeless — those who live on the street or in cars or abandoned homes — grew 40 percent…”
- Homelessness on the rise, By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, January 13, 2011, San Antonio Express-News: “The homeless population across the country increased by about 20,000 people, or 3 percent, at the height of the recession between 2008 and 2009, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. A new report from the alliance shows the increases were across the board – families, individuals, the unsheltered and the chronically homeless. In San Antonio, the most recent survey found 3,580 people lived in shelters or on the streets in 2010, compared with 3,303 in 2009…”