WJBD
May 12, 2010
Heartland Alliance has released its 2010 Report on Poverty in Illinois, with Marion County on the group’s “Warning List.”
From WJBD:
Heartland Alliance has released their 2010 Report on Poverty in Illinois, with Marion County on the group’s “Warning List.”
Amy Rynell with Heartland Alliance says the report examines four factors that indicate or predict growing poverty by counties. “We look at high school graduation rates, teen birth rates, unemployment rates and poverty rates,” she says. “We measure counties on two things – whether those rates are getting better or worse over time and whether they are better or worse than the state average.”
According to the Heartland report, Marion County’s High School Graduation rate dropped 2.8 percent to 81.2 percent in the 2008-2009 year and Rynell says education is very closely tied to earnings potential. Meanwhile, the County also saw a 20 point increase in teen births with nearly 80 births of every thousand delivered by women between the ages of 15 to 19. Heartland officials say very few teen mothers do not fall into the poverty category. And much like the rest of Illinois, the unemployment rate in Marion County rose since last year, jumping 2.8 percent from the previous year.
The lone bright spot in the report indicated that the poverty rate decreased one percent from the year before to 14.6 percent. Rynell says although that number has improved, it still is far higher than most counties in the state of Illinois.
Joining Marion County on the Warning List are Clay and Fayette counties. Jefferson, Washington and Wayne Counties are all on the Watch List. The report is compiled using figures from state agencies. The complete report can be viewed online at http://readi.test/povertyreport