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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Tue May 21, 2013 7:40 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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New Home to Most Poor Americans: the 'Burbs
Suburban poverty has skyrocketed, study finds
By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff
Posted May 20, 2013 3:41 AM CDT | Updated May 20, 2013 7:38 AM CDT
(Newser) – The face of American poverty is now a suburban one, according to new research from the Brookings Institution. Researchers found that the number of people living in poverty in the suburbs soared 64% between 2000 and 2010, more than twice the rate of urban areas—meaning that now more poor people live in suburbs than in cities or rural areas, although the overall poverty rate remains higher in cities, the Miami Herald reports.
Researchers say the explosion in suburban poverty is the result of many factors, including the housing bust, urban gentrification, and the loss of manufacturing jobs. In places like Orange County, California, "everything is nicely maintained. Things look good on the surface," the director of a charity helping struggling families tells the LA Times. "But the need has just skyrocketed."
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Tue May 21, 2013 7:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Tue May 21, 2013 7:42 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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U.S. Poverty | Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu/…search/topics/u-s-povertyNearly 20 percent of America's children–and 13 percent of all Americans–live in poverty. Although the nation has made some progress against poverty, |
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Tue May 21, 2013 7:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Suburban poverty on the rise
By Ronald J. Hansen, The Republic|azcentral.com
Since 2000, suburban poverty in metro Phoenix has soared, creating new pockets of decay and surprising hurdles in areas often inexperienced with such problems, according to a new nationwide analysis by a Washington think tank.
Between 2000 and 2011, the number of suburban Phoenix residents in poverty climbed from 117,000 to 275,000, a 134percent jump that placed the metro area sixth in the country in that time, the Brookings Institution found. By comparison, poverty in the urban core of Phoenix increased 70 percent over the same period. The city still had a significantly higher poverty rate, 21 percent in 2011, than the suburbs, 13 percent.
As with other economic woes made worse by the housing bust, suburban poverty mushroomed as thousands of homeowners found themselves underwater with their mortgages and often out of work, too.
"In many ways this was a suburban recession to begin with," said Alan Berube, a senior fellow at Brookings and co-author of the new book "Confronting Suburban Poverty in America." "That's where housing prices crashed the most. That's where foreclosures spiked the most. And that's where the unemployment and the poverty that went along with that was concentrated.
"I don't think this is a trend that is likely to reverse itself once the recovery gets in full swing and we get back to full employment. I think suburban poverty is here to stay."
So does Beverly Damore, CEO of the St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance, which serves metro Phoenix and northern and western Arizona.
"The vast majority of growth over time is going into the suburbs," Damore said. Five years ago, St. Mary's distributed 45million pounds of food, she said. This year it will likely top 72million pounds with much of it heading to the Phoenix suburbs.
Brian Simpson, a spokesman for the Association of Arizona Food Banks, said more food banks are doing mobile pantries in an effort to reach those with transportation problems, an issue that can be especially difficult in the suburbs.
"There are folks out there who may be trapped and may not have access to consistent and reliable transportation," he said.
Though metro Phoenix was among the fastest-growing areas for suburban poverty, it remains relatively low in sheer numbers, the Brookings report found.
Suburban Atlanta, for example, had the sharpest growth, 159 percent, and the largest number of people added to that category, 479,000. Suburbs around Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Miami and Riverside, Calif., all gained more than 200,000 more suburban residents in poverty. The Phoenix area gained 158,000.
Suburban poverty only grew 17 percent in the Los Angeles area, but it still had 1.2 million people in that category, more than four times as many as Phoenix.
The problem was evident in metro Tucson as well. Between 2000 and 2011, suburban poverty there jumped from 34,000 to 63,000, an 84percent increase.
Berube said any effective response to suburban poverty will likely depend on a coordinated effort between government agencies and organizations like non-profits that can help offer comprehensive services on a scale to match the need.
Reach the reporter at ronald .hansen@arizonarepublic.com. |
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Tue May 21, 2013 7:51 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Confronting Suburban Poverty in America | Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu/…gsuburbanpovertyinamericaOn May 20, the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings will host an event marking the release of Confronting Suburban Poverty in America, co-authored
May 20, 2013
Cover: Confronting Suburban Poverty in America
Confronting Suburban Poverty in America
Event:
On May 20, the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings will host an event marking the release of Confronting Suburban Poverty in America, co-authored by Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube. They, along with some of the nation’s leading anti-poverty experts, including Luis Ubiñas, president of the Ford Foundation, and Bill Shore, founder and CEO of Share our Strength, will join leading local innovators from across the country to discuss a new metropolitan opportunity agenda for addressing suburban poverty, how federal and state policymakers can deploy limited resources to address a growing challenge, and why building on local solutions holds great promise.
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Synopsis:
It has been nearly a half century since President Lyndon Johnson declared his War on Poverty, setting in motion development of America’s modern safety net. Back in the 1960s, tackling poverty “in place” meant focusing resources in the inner city and in isolated rural areas. The suburbs were home to middle- and upper-class families—affluent commuters and homeowners who did not want to raise kids in the city. But the America of 2012 is a very different place. Poverty is no longer just an urban or rural problem but increasingly a suburban one as well.
In Confronting Suburban Poverty in America, Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube take on the new reality of metropolitan poverty and opportunity in America. For decades, suburbs added poor residents at a faster pace than cities, so that suburbia is now home to more poor residents than central cities, composing over a third of the nation’s total poor population. Unfortunately, the antipoverty infrastructure built over the past several decades does not fit this rapidly changing geography. The solution no longer fits the problem. Kneebone and Berube explain the source and impact of these important developments; moreover, they present innovative ideas on addressing them.
The spread of suburban poverty has many causes, including job sprawl, shifts in affordable housing, population dynamics, immigration, and a struggling economy. As the authors explain in Confronting Suburban Poverty in America, it raises a number of daunting challenges, such as the need for more (and better) transportation options, services, and financial resources. But necessity also produces opportunity—in this case, the opportunity to rethink and modernize services, structures, and procedures so that they better reflect and address new demands. This book embraces that opportunity.
The authors put forward a series of workable recommendations for public, private, and nonprofit leaders seeking to modernize poverty alleviation and community development strategies and connect residents with economic opportunity. They describe and evaluate ongoing efforts in metro areas where local leaders are learning how to do more with less and adjusting their approaches to address the metropolitan scale of poverty—for example, collaborating across sectors and jurisdictions, using data and technology in innovative ways, and integrating services and service delivery. Kneebone and Berube combine clear prose, original thinking, and illustrative graphics in Confronting Suburban Poverty in America to paint a new picture of poverty in America as well as the best ways to combat it.
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Tue May 21, 2013 7:55 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Bethany hazard sent this article to me. I believe it underlines the real growing issue of poverty in America.
With rioting in the middle east and some European countries over poverty, the economy, and high unemployment, is America heading in the same direction.
How can we trust our police when we cut their wages, their benefits,and their pensions. Remember police and fire do not get social security benefits. They are t serve and protect so why doesn't the politicians ensure they have a decent working wage.
In Flint, the true working poor probably does not have the credit or resources to buy these taxpayer funded boondoggles in Smith Village and other administration approved sites. The truly poor often buy their homes on land contracts and struggle to maintain them. Sometimes these homes are not worth investing in, but they are the only assets they have.
AlterNet / By Paul Buchheit
The Real Numbers: Half of America in Poverty -- and It's Creeping toward 75%
The Census Bureau has reported that one out of six Americans lives in poverty. A shocking figure. But it's actually much, much worse.
May 26, 2013
The Census Bureau has reported that one out of six Americans lives in poverty. A shocking figure. But it's actually much worse. Inequality is spreading like a shadowy disease through our country, infecting more and more households, and leaving a shrinking number of financially secure families to maintain the charade of prosperity.
1. Almost half of Americans had NO assets in 2009
Analysis of Economic Policy Institute data shows that Mitt Romney's famous 47 percent, the alleged 'takers,' have taken nothing. Their debt exceeded their assets in 2009.
2. It's Even Worse 3 Years Later
Since the recession, the disparities have continued to grow. An OECD report states that "inequality has increased by more over the past three years to the end of 2010 than in the previous twelve," with the U.S. experiencing one of the widest gaps among OECD countries. The 30-year decline in wages has worsened since the recession, as low-wage jobs have replaced formerly secure middle-income positions.
3. Based on wage figures, over half of Americans are now IN poverty.
According to IRS data, the average household in the bottom 50% brings in about $18,000 per year. That's less than the poverty line for a family of three ($19,000) or a family of four ($23,000).
Census income figures are about 25% higher, because they include unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, public assistance, veterans' payments, and various other monetary sources. Based on this supplemental income, the average household in the bottom 50% brings in about $25,000, which is just above the $23,000 poverty line for a family of four.
4. Based on wage figures, 75% of Americans are NEAR poverty.
According to IRS data, the average household in the bottom 75% earns about $31,000 per year. To be eligible for food assistance, a family can earn up to 130% of the federal poverty line, or about $30,000 for a family of four.
Again, Census income figures are about 25% higher because of SNAP reporting requirements, bringing average household income for the bottom 75% to about $39,000.
Incredibly, Congress is trying to cut food assistance. Republican Congressman Stephen Fincher of Tennessee referred to food stamps as "stealing." He added a Biblical quote: "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." A recent jobs hearing in Washington was attended by one Congressman.
5. Putting it in Perspective
Inequality is at its ugliest for the hungriest people. While food support was being targeted for cuts, just 20 rich Americans made as much from their 2012 investments as the entire 2012 SNAP (food assistance) budget, which serves 47 million people.
And as Congress continues to cut life-sustaining programs, its members should note that their 400 friends on the Forbes list made more from their stock market gains last year than the total amount of the food, housing, and education budgets combined.
Mr. Fincher should think about the tax breaks that allow this to happen, and then tell us who's stealing from whom.
Paul Buchheit teaches economic inequality at DePaul University. He is the founder and developer of the Web sites UsAgainstGreed.org, PayUpNow.org and RappingHistory.org, and the editor and main author of "American Wars: Illusions and Realities" (Clarity Press). He can be reached at paul@UsAgainstGreed.org.
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Mon May 27, 2013 8:59 am |
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