Poverty in Wisconsin

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Poverty in Wisconsin"

Oswin Carter
5 years ago
Views:

1 Poverty in Wisconsin Sikh Temple May 23, 2015 Ken Taylor Wisconsin Council on Children and Families Robert Kraig Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund 1

2 American Poverty Ideology Faith in markets to distribute resources to the most deserving Poor are personally responsible for condition Anyone can make it who is moral (American Dream) Doing harm by doing good (Dependency) Deservedness Contingent on work Contingent on behavior

3 2015 Federal Poverty Guidelines by Family Size Persons in Family / Household Poverty Guideline 1 $11,770 2 $15,930 3 $20,090 4 $24,250 5 $28,410 6 $32,570 7 $36,730 8 $40,890 For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $4,160 for each additional person. A full-time minimum wage job produces a gross income of $15,080

4 % Poverty by Age Living Below the Federal Poverty Level 2010 US Census 4 Bureau

5 % Poverty Over Time: Children and Seniors Sachs JD. The Price of Civilization , Random House, NY. Chapter 10, pp

6 16 Million American children in the U.S. live below the poverty line That s more than the populations of New York LA and Chicago COMBINED = 100,000 people

7 Child Poverty Rates: United States and United Kingdom Smeeding T, Waldfogel J. Fighting childhood poverty in the US &UK: and update Cribb J, Joyce R, Phillip D. Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: IFS commentary C124.

8 Poverty in Wisconsin 8

9 What do we know about Wisconsin? Although our child poverty rate is still below the national average (18% vs. 23%): Wisconsin s rate has grown faster than the national rate over the decade Milwaukee has the 4 th highest level of children living in concentrated poverty of the 50 largest cities There are substantial racial disparities in child poverty rates 9

10 Percent of the population living in poverty By county, Wisconsin, Source: American Community Survey,

11 Free/Reduced Lunch Eligibility Reveals Trend in WI Child Poverty

12 Racial Disparities in Wisconsin Percent of Children Living in Poverty by Race (2013) 60% 50% 52.5% 46.7% 40% 35.3% 30% 20.0% 20% 10.9% 10% 0% Black or African American American Indian Hispanic Asian Non-Hispanic White Source: American Community Survey,

13 The poverty rate for Black kids in Wisconsin is over 4X higher than for White kids

14 Milwaukee County 14

15 Waukesha County 15

16 Concentrated and deep poverty The added challenge of extreme poverty: 16

17 100,000 Wisconsin children live in deep poverty

18 The Economy

19 Income Inequality Trend Source:

20 Wisconsin Unemployment

22 59% of Milwaukee African American men not employed Source UWM Center on Econ Development

23 Minimum Wage Jobs Increasingly Support Families, and Lost Ground Minimum Wage over $2.00 per hour less than 1968 Minimum Wage workers in 2014 are much more productive and better educated 87% minimum wage workers 20 years or older 57% are women 45% have some college education 587,000 Wisconsin workers make less than $10.10 per hour

24 US Labor Department 24

25 Poverty Increasing in Wisconsin Even as employment increases, because mostly poverty wage jobs are being created (UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty, 2015).

26 Low-Wage Worker Education 26

27 Chronic Diseases: Age-adjusted rates of heart attack and stroke among Wisconsin adults, by household income, % Low income (<$20,000) Middle income ($20,000-$74,999) High income ($75,000+) 5% 0% 7% 3% 3% 5% 2% 2% Ever had a heart attack 27 Ever had a stroke Source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS); landline-only dataset.

28 Wisconsin Incarceration

29 Adult Arrests

30 Vocabulary 1200 Wealthy CHILD S CUMULATIVE VOCABULARY Middle Class Low Income Age of Child (in months) 30 Hart & Risley, 1995

31 What beliefs get in the way of addressing the challenge of poverty? We don t have enough money Raising the wage floor harms the economy Its no longer possible to solve big social problems Personal vs. Systems analysis of social & economic issues 31

32 Roles It Takes a Village Individuals Families Private Sector Public Sector Charitable Sector Faith Communities 32

33 The End FIN 33

Poverty in Wisconsin Chippewa Valley, WI September 26, 2014

Poverty in Wisconsin Chippewa Valley, WI September 26, 2014 Ken Taylor Wisconsin Council on Children and Families Robert Kraig Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund 1 Poverty Definition is Limited