A woman walks by a dilapidated house in Nebraska. (Reuters)
For me, the biggest takeaway from the new Census data on poverty has little to do with the data itself—it’s this: we’ve long known what to do to take the next steps in the fight against poverty, and we still know what to do to take the next steps in the fight against poverty. But we’re not doing it.
If you look all the way back to the 2007 inaugural report of the Half in Ten campaign—written by Peter Edelman, Angela Glover Blackwell and other antipoverty heavyweights—it was clear then that raising the minimum wage, strengthening the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, and improving childcare assistance could reduce poverty by 26 percent. Add lessons that we have since learned from initiatives like the bipartisan (at least when it comes to state governors) subsidized jobs program, and a more responsive food stamp (SNAP) program, and we know that we could make significant strides to reduce poverty were there the political will—or more accurately, a movement to create the political will.
In lieu of that, for the eleventh time in twelve years, poverty has worsened or stayed the same. It remains stuck at 15 percent, with 46 million people living on less than about $18,300 for a family of three. That includes nearly 22 percent of all children, 27 percent of African-Americans, 25 percent of Hispanics and more than 28 percent of people with disabilities (the next group conservatives will likely target after they are through with those who currently need food stamp assistance).
Significantly, 44 percent of those in poverty live below half the poverty line—in “deep poverty”—on less than about $9,150 for a family of three. That adds up to 20.4 million people, and includes 15 million women and children—nearly 10 percent of all children in the United States. Deep poverty and its accompanying toxic stress are particularly harmful to children. We also have evidence that just a modest boost in income—$3000 in earnings or government benefits for a family living on less than $25,000—makes a significant difference in the lives of young children when they reach adulthood, both in the hours they will work and the income they will earn.
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Another number that remained stagnant last year is the number of people living below twice the poverty line—on less than $36,600 for a family of three. That describes 106 million Americans, more than one in three of us. These are people who are living a single hardship—such as a lost job or serious family illness—away from poverty.
While conservatives will use the 15 percent poverty rate as fodder to label as a failure the War on Poverty launched nearly fifty years ago—since the official poverty rate is about the same now as it was in the late-1960s—we know that one has to overlook critical information to reach this conclusion.
Some examples: the poverty rate would be twice as high now—nearly 30 percent—without the safety net. Food stamp benefits aren’t included in the official poverty rate, but they lifted a record 4 million people above the poverty line in 2012; nor are the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), which in 2011 moved 9.4 million people above the poverty line. In fact, in 2011 the official poverty rate would have dropped from 15.0 percent to 10.9 percent if it included food stamps, EITC and CTC. (See, too, Martha Bailey and Sheldon Danziger’s new book, Legacies of the War on Poverty.)
“If you took the official poverty measure and accounted for the effect of the biggest benefits that it leaves out—SNAP, rent subsidies, and tax credits for working families—you’d find that poverty in the United States is significantly lower today than it was at any time in the 1960s,” said Arloc Sherman, senior researcher at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “That’s true even despite today’s shaky economy.”
There were some obvious missed opportunities to reduce the poverty rate last year. In 2012, unemployment insurance (UI) benefits reduced poverty by 1.7 million people, compared to 2.3 million people in 2011 and 3.2 million people in 2010. According to the CBPP, the weakened antipoverty effect is in part due to reduced federal and state UI benefits and long-term unemployed workers exhausting their eligibility.
“The number of unemployed workers receiving no unemployment benefits is actually higher today than at any point in the recession,” writes Robert Greenstein, president of the CBPP. He notes that if UI benefits had been as effective as they were at reducing poverty among the jobless and their families in 2010, the poverty rate would have fallen over the past two years.
But more than just missing opportunities for effective policy, we now face a Congress poised to make matters worse for those who are faring the worst in our economy.
As Greenstein notes, federal UI benefits for the long-term unemployed are scheduled to expire in the end of 2013 and may well not be renewed. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the sequester will cost 900,000 jobs by the third quarter of 2014. As for food stamps—which average $1.50 per person, per meal—there will be cuts to benefits in November that will affect 22 million children. House Republicans voted last night for an additional $40 billion in SNAP cuts that truly boggle the mind—both from a moral and economic perspective. Senate Democrats also agreed to $4 billion in cuts that would harm 500,000 families who are currently struggling to meet their basic food needs.
“No program does more than SNAP to protect children from the effects of deep poverty, and yet the House just voted to cut 3.8 million people off the program, including many of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country,” Sherman wrote me in an email. “Some of those cut will be children, others will be seniors. Others will be poor childless adults who are out of work; the bill specifically targets those living in areas with the highest unemployment, where it’s hardest to find work.”
Edelman, who has about as much perspective on the public policy fight against poverty as anyone—having lived and worked on it through much of its history since serving as a legislative assistant for Senator Robert Kennedy—is struck by the nature of the newest attacks against antipoverty policies.
“In the past year the kinds of distortions and misstatements that characterize the arguments against the public policy that we have are even more troubling than they were before,” said Edelman, author of So Rich, So Poor: Why it’s So Hard to End Poverty in America. “Because now for example, there is a significant number of people who want to characterize food stamps as being something that keeps people from looking for jobs—a totally made up thing. It’s such a gross distortion.”
If there is any hope to be gleaned from the latest economic snapshots of what Americans are experiencing when it comes to income and poverty, it lies in the notion that perhaps more people are beginning to see that the needs of low-income people and a dwindling middle class are converging. When the top 1 percent see an income gain of 20 percent, and everyone else has a gain of just 1 percent—something has to give.
“We’re not seeing much growth in jobs, we’re not seeing much growth in wages for anybody, so it shouldn’t be surprising that people’s incomes are going nowhere,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute.
Edelman points to the living wage campaigns at Walmart stores and fast food restaurants as positive signs. He also calls for “campaigns of public information” to influence public opinion about people in poverty and near poverty.
“Absent a serious change in our politics, which depends on really hard work organizing and reaching people to change attitudes—we’re not going to get the policies we need and we’ll be stuck in this mess for quite a while to come,” he said.
Action
Tell President Obama: Ensure Federal Contractors Pay a Living Wage
Share your story: How has the safety net helped you make ends meet?
Event
2013 Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Awards (Wednesday, October 16, St. James’ Episcopal Church in New York City). These awards are presented annually to distinguished individuals or organizations who represent one of FDR’s famous “Four Freedoms”—Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. This year’s laureates include the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, who have fought to improve working conditions for Florida’s tomato pickers; Sister Simone Campbell of “Nuns on the Bus” fame; Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman; Ameena Matthews of Chicago’s Violence Interrupters; and poet and farm-to-table activist Wendell Berry, who will receive the overall Freedom Medal. You can learn more and RSVP to the free public ceremony here.
Clips and Other Resources
“Legacies of the War on Poverty,” Martha Bailey and Sheldon Danziger
“Finally, Domestic Workers Get Basic Labor Protections,” Sheila Bapat
“The Top 3 Things You Need to Know About the New Poverty and Income Data,” Melissa Boteach
“Seven Ways Occupy Changed America—and Is Still Changing It,” David Calahan
“Breaking Ground,” Kavitha Cardoza (AUDIO)
“Poverty Rate and Income Stagnate as Conservatives Attack the Safety Net,” Zoe Carpenter
“Child Poverty in the US,” Center for Law and Social Policy
“New Census Data Confirms Economy Isn’t Working,” Coalition on Human Needs
“Stop playing politics with hunger,” Bob Dole and Tom Daschle
“Innovating in Early Head Start: Can Reducing Toxic Stress Improve Outcomes for Young Children?” Carol Gerwin
“In Light Of Census Numbers, Cutting SNAP Would Be Irresponsible,” Elise Gould and Hilary Wething
“Ten myth-busting facts about welfare,” Heather Hahn
“Slow economic recovery reflected in stagnant income and poverty data,” Doug Hall and Alyssa Davis
“Lifelines for Poor Children,” James Heckman
“State Tax Codes As Poverty Fighting Tools,” Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
“House Bill Would Cut 3.8 Million People From Food Stamp Rolls,” Tamara Keith (AUDIO)
“Experts weigh in: Are we losing the war on poverty?” Nicole Levins
“Why is the Federal Poverty Line So Far Off?” John Light
“A System Designed For And By The People,” Kirsten Lodal
“The Children Are Still Poor in America,” Hannah Matthews
“By the Numbers: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage 2012,” Lawrence Mishel and Elise Gould
“Preview: Inequality for All,” Moyers & Company
“We can end child poverty—or, at least, do more,” Austin Nichols
“DC Mayor’s Veto of Wal-Mart Wage Bill is a National Outrage,” Isaiah Poole
“Official Poverty Measure Masks Gains Made Over Last 50 Years,” Arloc Sherman
“Book Review: Kindness and a ‘Harsh’ Ala. Immigration Law,” Thomas Vasquez
“Mismatches in Race to the Top Limit Educational Improvement,” Elaine Weiss
“Living Below the Line: Economic Insecurity and America’s Families,” Wider Opportunities for Wome
Vital Statistics
US poverty (less than $23,492 for a family of four): 46.5 million people, 15 percent.
African-American poverty rate: 27.2 percent.
Hispanic poverty rate: 25.6 percent.
White poverty rate: 9.7 percent.
People with disabilities: 28 percent.
Poorest age group: children, 34.6 percent of all people in poverty are children.
Children in poverty: 16.1 million, 21.8 percent, including 38 percent of African-American children, 34 percent of Latino children, and 12 percent of white children.
Poverty rate among families with children headed by single mothers: 40.9 percent.
Gender gap: Women 31 percent more likely to be poor than men.
Deep poverty (less than $9,142 for a family of three): 20.4 million people, 1 in 15 Americans, nearly 10 percent of all children
up from 12.6 million in 2000—increase 59%
Twice the poverty level (less than $46,042 for a family of four): 106 million people, approximately 1 in 3 Americans.
Jobs in the US paying less than $34,000 a year: 50 percent.
Jobs in the US paying below the poverty line for a family of four, less than $23,000 annually: 25 percent.
Poverty-level wages, 2011: 28 percent of workers.
Federal minimum wage: $7.25 ($2.13 for tipped workers)
Federal minimum wage if indexed to inflation since 1968: $10.59.
Federal minimum wage if it kept pace with productivity gains: $18.72.
Hourly wage needed to lift a family of four above poverty line, 2011: $11.06
Families receiving cash assistance, 1996: 68 for every 100 families living in poverty.
Families receiving cash assistance, 2011: 27 for every 100 families living in poverty.
Impact of public policy, 2011: without government assistance, poverty would have been twice as high—nearly 30 percent of population.
Number of people 65 or older kept out of poverty by Social Security: 15.3 million
Quotes of the Week
“Children’s ability to survive, thrive and develop must not depend on the lottery of geography of birth. A child is a child and should be protected by a national floor of decency. We can and must end child poverty. It’s about values. It’s about priorities. It’s about who we are as Americans. The greatest threat to America’s national security comes from no foreign enemy but from our failure to invest in healthy and educated children.”
—Marian Wright Edelman, president of Children’s Defense Fund.
“Following on the heels of multiple new reports on the tens of millions of Americans struggling with unemployment, inadequate wages and hunger, today’s vote by the House to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $40 billion is simply divorced from the reality of constituents’ lives. Members who voted for this bill have voted to increase hunger in their districts and around the country.”
——Jim Weill, president of Food Research and Action Center.
This Week in Poverty posts here on Friday mornings, and again at Moyers & Company. You can e-mail me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter.
Sasha Abramsky, author of The American Way of Poverty, discussed the new poverty data from a both historical and international perspective in his article America's Shameful Poverty Stats.
