Census shows rising poverty, falling incomes in Madison, Dane County, By Steven Verburg, September 28, 2010, Wisconsin State Journal: “Household income in Dane County and Madison dropped more than twice as much as it did nationally in 2009, and the proportion of rich and poor increased while middle-income households dwindled, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday. The data also showed rising levels of poverty, including among children, in the city and county. Experts said the numbers demonstrate the broad impact of the recent recession – described as the country’s worst since World War II but which officially ended in June 2009…”
Milwaukee now fourth poorest city in nation, By Bill Glauber and Ben Poston, September 28, 2010, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Milwaukee emerged as America’s fourth-most impoverished big city in 2009, as the Great Recession rippled across the city and state, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Tuesday. Milwaukee’s poverty rate reached 27%, up from 23.4% in the previous year. Only Detroit (36.4%), Cleveland (35%) and Buffalo (28.8%) had higher poverty rates among cities with populations greater than 250,000. Milwaukee was ranked 11th in 2008. An estimated 158,245 Milwaukeeans lived in poverty last year. For a family of four with two adults and two children, the poverty threshold was an annual income of $21,954. What’s more, nearly 4 in 10 children in Milwaukee were considered poor, meaning an estimated 62,432 children lived in poverty last year, up from 49,952 in 2008…”
Poverty rises slightly in Chicago area, By Dahleen Glanton and Lisa Black, September 29, 2010, Chicago Tribune: “Poverty inched higher in the Chicago area in the midst of the recession, pulling city and suburban families that once were considered middle class into the ranks of the poor, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Like the rest of the country, the Chicago area experienced heavy job losses, home foreclosures and lower median household incomes from 2006 to 2009, which forced some people out of their comfortable lifestyles into homeless shelters, food banks and unemployment lines…”
Census reveals ‘new poor’ in many Twin Cities suburbs, By Jeremy Olson, September 28, 2010, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Poverty and joblessness rose sharply in many Twin Cities suburbs last year, according to U.S. census estimates released Tuesday, along with a rise in what advocates call the “new poor” — families whose financial stability has crumbled in the economic recession. In Anoka County, for example, the unemployment rate shot up to 6.8 percent in 2009 from 3.3 percent in 2008. Child poverty in Dakota County more than doubled, to 8.2 percent in 2009, while the rate of uninsured residents increased in Washington County from 5 percent in 2008 to 6.7 percent in 2009…”
Census survey data: Minnesotans’ incomes took a hit in 2009, By Elizabeth Dunbar, September 28, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “Minnesotans’ incomes took a hit and more residents were living in poverty in 2009 as the economic recession continued, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The estimated median household income in Minnesota fell to $55,616 compared to $57,288 in 2008, according to the American Community Survey data, which is calculated from surveys conducted with 2 percent of the U.S. population…”
Michigan sees sharpest income plunge in nation, By Mike Wilkinson, September 29, 2010, Detroit News: “For most families in Michigan, the long-running recession has meant a simple, unrelenting truth: living with less. And census data released on Tuesday shows how much less — the state’s median household income fell by more than $12,000 over the last decade — the equivalent of trimming $1,000 from a family’s monthly budget. The drop was stunning in both its size and its singularity: No other state came close to losing the estimated 21.3 percent of its median income between 2000 and 2009, and no state endured the 6.5 percent drop seen from 2008 to 2009…”
Poverty rate jumps locally, By Bill Bush and Rita Price, September 29, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “About half of all pay in Franklin County last year ended up in households with incomes north of $95,000, while those that made less than $20,000 got just over 3percent of the payout, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released yesterday. The comparison, based on cutting the county into fifths by income and looking at the households in the top and bottom 20 percent, comes amid troubling news about poverty and household incomes. The economic downturn pushed tens of thousands of additional Franklin County residents below the poverty line last year. The percentage of county residents living in poverty shot to 18.2 percent in 2009, from 15 percent the year before…”
Census shows Cleveland is the second-poorest city in the United States, By Robert L. Smith, September 29, 2010, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Hard times came to every corner of Northeast Ohio during a historic recession, as unemployment and its consequences rippled across the city and suburbs. The hammer of despair landed hardest in Cleveland, where one out of every three people lived in poverty at the end of 2009, making Cleveland the second-poorest big city in America — thank you, Detroit — according to estimates released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The region weathered the Great Recession better than some other metro areas, but poverty rose in every outlying county except Medina, and many felt the pangs of hunger and fear for the first time…”
Poverty rise stirs debate over aid programs, By Corey Dade, September 16, 2010, National Public Radio: “The recession drove the number of poor Americans in 2009 to its highest total in half a century, yet several measures indicate the impact could well have been worse. While the Census Bureau’s report Thursday on the economic conditions of U.S. households found that 3.8 million more people lived in poverty last year than in 2008, the agency and advocates for the poor say millions of others were sustained with the help of government programs. Advocates cite federal stimulus initiatives aimed at low-income earners and the extension of unemployment benefits, which alone are credited with helping keep 3.3 million people out of poverty…”
Poverty rate hits 15-year high, U.S. figures show, By Alfred Lubrano, September 17, 2010, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Driven by the relentless recession, the U.S. poverty rate soared to 14.3 percent in 2009, its highest level in 15 years, new government figures show. The rate was up from 13.2 percent in 2008, according to a report the Census Bureau released Thursday. Locally the picture was less dire, with poverty rising slightly to 11.1 percent in Pennsylvania and to 9.3 percent in New Jersey…”
‘The new poor’: Poverty reaches historic levels, By Tony Pugh, September 16, 2010, Miami Herald: “The withering recession pushed the number of Americans who are living in poverty to a 51-year high in 2009 and left a record 50.7 million people without health insurance, the Census Bureau said Thursday. The 43.6 million Americans who were poor last year — up from 39.8 million the year before — were the most since poverty estimates were first published in 1959. The national poverty rate of 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008, was the highest since 1994. The bureau also found that median income — the amount at which half of U.S. households earn more or less — had fallen 4.2 percent by 2009 since the recession began in 2007…”
1 in 7 in U.S. lives below poverty line, By Don Lee and Alana Semuels, September 17, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “The recession and longer-term economic troubles have pushed the nation’s poverty rate to levels not seen in more than a decade, wiping out gains in the long-running War on Poverty and adding more financial strain to the lives of millions of Americans. New Census Bureau data, released Thursday, also showed that the face of the poor has changed. Those falling below the poverty line today are more likely to be full-time workers who cannot earn enough to meet their needs or middle-class workers driven into the ranks of the poor by lost jobs or shrinking incomes. The higher poverty level – 14.3%, or an increase of nearly 4 million people last year – means higher costs for government programs such as food stamps and unemployment compensation and potentially heavier tax burdens for the country as a whole…”
The new poor and the almost-poor: Will poverty rate climb more?, By Patrik Jonsson, September 16, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “Call them the newly poor. They are the 4.8 million people in America who last year joined the ranks of people living in poverty – defined as having less than $22,000 in annual income for a family of four. They are people, probably, much like Reginald O’Neal and his family. Mr. O’Neal and several family members were at the Dekalb County welfare department here on Thursday, trying to get help to turn the electricity back on at their house. ‘If you were to see our house, you’d think we were middle class,’ says the 20-something Atlantan. ‘But that would be missing the point: Lately, we’re poor…'”
US adds 3.8 million more to ranks of the poor as poverty rate jumps, By Ron Scherer, September 16, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “The deepest recession in modern times has sharply increased the ranks of the poor during the past year, with 1 in 7 people in America officially counted as living in poverty. The news from a US Census Bureau report released Thursday underscores how deeply the Great Recession has affected the nation’s standard of living. The key findings of report, which compared income, poverty rate, and health-care insurance coverage in 2009 with 2008 numbers, include the following…”
Despite recession, seniors see income gains, By Dennis Cauchon and Richard Wolf, September 17, 2010, USA Today: “Senior citizens are enjoying some of the biggest income gains in decades at a time when every other age group is losing ground in the recession, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. The 31 million households headed by people 65 and older saw their median income rise by a healthy 5.8% in 2009 after inflation and 7.1% since the recession began in December 2007. Every other age group has suffered income losses of at least 4% during the recession, the data show…”
Not quite poor, but struggling: Do seniors need their own poverty index?, By Matt O’Brien, September 16, 2010, Contra Costa Times: “The proportion of America’s seniors living in poverty dropped last year to just under 9 percent, a hopeful statistic in an otherwise dismal report on poverty released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Local senior advocates, however, say the numbers mask some of the financial struggles older residents face living in the Bay Area, where the cost of living is high…”
Poverty rise reflects toll of recession, By Bill Bush and Rita Price, September 17, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “They didn’t earn much, but for most of their marriage, the Bowens had enough. ‘We could afford to go out and eat once in a while, do the stuff that families do,’ Carolyn Bowen said. ‘Now, we can’t even go for ice cream.’ The math no longer works: Ron Bowen lost a job that paid $20 an hour and, after eight months of unemployment, finally found another – cleaning offices for $9.50 an hour. The Bowens and their children have joined 43.6million other Americans – about one in seven – who live in an uncertain place where groceries are bought with government-issued benefit cards and bills might not be paid. A U.S. Census Bureau report released yesterday put the nation’s official poverty rate at 14.3 percent last year, up from 13.2 percent in 2008. It hasn’t been higher since 1994, but is still 8.1 percentage points lower than in 1959, the first year for which estimates are available…”
A descent into poverty for millions, By Warren Wolfe and Jeremy Olson, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Ramsey County human services planner Jim Anderson didn’t need Thursday’s census report to know that poverty has climbed sharply since the economy collapsed in 2008. Last month he turned away 59 adults with 126 children seeking emergency shelter for families. In a report that confirmed what experts like Anderson have sensed, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday that the nation’s poverty rate shot to 14.3 percent last year, the highest in 16 years, and that one in five American children were living below the poverty line. Household incomes also stagnated, and the number of people without health insurance reached an all-time high of 51 million. The report suggested that in Minnesota, too, poverty is on the rise…”
Poverty in Hawaii highest since ’97, By Mary Vorsino, September 17, 2010, Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “Thousands more Hawaii residents fell into poverty last year, driving up the rate here to its highest level since 1997, Census Bureau figures released yesterday show. The poverty rate in Hawaii rose to 12.5 percent in 2009 — with more than 156,000 people living below the poverty line — the third consecutive year the state saw growing numbers of impoverished people. In 2007, 7.5 percent of the state’s population was below the poverty line. In 2008, the number rose to 9.9 percent — or 125,000 people…”
Michigan’s poverty rate hits 14%, highest level in 16 years, By Mike Wilkinson and Catherine Jun, September 17, 2010, Detroit News: “Michigan’s poverty rate last year reached a 16-year high as the full effects of the recession continued to sweep across the country, according to a report issued Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The state’s poverty rate in 2009 rose to 14 percent, up from 13 percent in 2008. That’s 1.4 million people in poverty. In 2000, the rate was 9.9 percent. Data further showed the Midwest — plagued by job losses in manufacturing — was hit the hardest in median income, falling to its lowest point since 1994. But the region didn’t suffer alone. Nationally, the number of poor climbed to the highest level since the 1960s, leaving one in seven Americans in poverty, the report said…”
Poverty at a 51-year high in the U.S., By Renée C. Lee, September 17, 2010, Houston Chronicle: “More than 43 million Americans lived in poverty last year, the largest number in 51 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The figure pushes the national poverty rate to 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008, statistics released Thursday show. In Texas, there were about 4.3 million people living in poverty in 2009, increasing the state’s poverty rate to 17.3 percent, up from 15.9 percent the prior year. County numbers won’t be available until later this month, but local social service agencies say they expect them to reflect what’s happening at the national and state level…”
Texas seeks answers to rising poverty rate, By Robert T. Garrett and Kim Horner, September 17, 2010, Dallas Morning News: “The government announced Thursday that nearly 4.3 million Texans lived in poverty last year, a whopping 11 percent increase. Larry James and Jill Cumnock absorbed the news many months ago. They run charities that feed and tend a swelling group of poor North Texans, and they say demand has gone up by at least 25 percent, and in some cases has doubled, since the economy took a dive in 2008. ‘The need is going up, that’s for sure,’ said James, president and chief executive of Central Dallas Ministries. He said his nonprofit is on track to feed, house and assist as many as 48,000 people this year – up from 43,000 last year and 34,000 two years ago…”
One-time working men now the ‘fresh face of poverty’, By Rick Montgomery, September 16, 2010, Kansas City Star: “The nation’s poverty rate rose sharply last year and the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 10 percent, according to new government figures. Just further evidence, in cold numbers, of how the second year of the Great Recession sent working men such as Matt Stephens spiraling. He and hundreds of others lined up this week for free lunches at the Wilhelmina Gill Multi-Service Center in Kansas City, Kan. Stephens, 45, spent a year in college after high school, then attended trade school, drove a truck for pay and also worked in his family’s insulation business…”
Record number in government anti-poverty program, By Richard Wolf, August 30, 2010, USA Today: “Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand. More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, the federal-state program aimed principally at the poor, a survey of state data by USA TODAY shows. That’s up at least 17% since the recession began in December 2007. ‘Virtually every Medicaid director in the country would say that their current enrollment is the highest on record,’ says Vernon Smith of Health Management Associates, which surveys states for Kaiser Family Foundation. The program has grown even before the new health care law adds about 16 million people, beginning in 2014. That has strained doctors. ‘Private physicians are already indicating that they’re at their limit,’ says Dan Hawkins of the National Association of Community Health Centers. More than 40 million people get food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% during the economic downturn, according to government data through May. The program has grown steadily for three years. Caseloads have risen as more people become eligible. The economic stimulus law signed by President Obama last year also boosted benefits…”
As unemployed lose benefits, more seek welfare benefits, By James Osborne, August 30, 2010, Philadelphia Inquirer: “One morning in July, Lisa Carstarphen climbed out of her husband’s car and walked into the beige brick building that houses the offices of Camden County’s social services, wondering how at age 46 she ended up there. Two years ago, she was laid off from her $35,000-a-year job at Comcast. Now, with her unemployment benefits exhausted, she was broke. She stepped through the building’s glass doors into a crowded, fluorescent-lit room to wait her turn to sign up for welfare. As a child, she had accompanied her mother to the welfare office and swore she would never end up the same way. But here she was, surrounded by dejected faces, just as in her youth. Memories of nondescript jars of peanut butter and big blocks of government cheese came rushing back, and Carstarphen struggled to keep it together. ‘It was like going back in time. But I had no choice. My refrigerator was bare,’ she said. ‘For someone who has worked their whole life, it’s awful to ask for a handout. When my husband picked me up later, I busted out in tears.’ For the first two years of the recession, welfare caseloads followed the same steady decline of the decade and a half after President Bill Clinton’s transformation of welfare from a social-assistance program into what is essentially a job-training program for low-income families. But over the last six months, caseloads have begun to creep up, the product, experts say, of the continued sluggishness of the job market. Unemployed workers who have run out of unemployment benefits, like Carstarphen, are being pushed into the system…”
