The Southern Illinoisian
February 3, 2014
From The Southern Illinoisian:
Fifty years after President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a War on Poverty, the percentage of Illinoisans living in poverty is about the same as it was then, according to a study released last week.
The percentage of Illinoisans living in poverty was
14.7, or 1.4 million, in 1960, four years before LBJ announced the federal strategy to eradicate poverty; the same percentage of the state’s residents, now about
1.9 million, lived below the federal poverty line in 2012, the report from Social IMPACT Research Center at Heartland Alliance revealed.
“That is not to say there haven’t been gains,” the center’s associate director Amy Terpstra said. “On the surface, the poverty rate is about the same as it was
50 years ago but there have been some pretty significant changes.”
Among them, she said, is a lessening of “incredibly deep poverty.”
“In 1960, 68 of Illinois’ 102 counties had poverty rates of over 20 percent; today there are 10,” she said. “Poverty does exist in every part of the state. I think we often forget Chicago and the suburbs are dealing with increases in poverty whereas the rural areas have remained relatively flat.”
Other findings in the report include a reduction in poverty for the elderly, thanks to Medicare and Social Security; and a slight decrease in poverty because of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as “food stamps”) and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
However, more children are living in poverty, about
21 percent in 2012, as compared to 16.5 percent in 1960; and the poverty rate for blacks, while down 3 percentage points since 1960, remained high in 2012 at about
32 percent.
The rate among Latinos hasn’t changed much, about 21 percent in 1960 and 2012, according to the report.
The working poor, despite early gains made during the War on Poverty, were hit hard in the 2000s, especially after the Great Recession, Terpstra said.
Many Southern Illinois counties continue to struggle with high unemployment — Franklin County had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 12.4 percent in November.
“Unemployment is really a flawed measure that doesn’t account for people who are underemployed or so discouraged that they’ve given up. The true unemployment rate is higher than the statistics show,” she said. “When I see 10 percent or higher, I know there is a lot of economic distress.”
The quality of jobs has declined while the price of everything else has gone up, she said.
“In Southern Illinois conditions are exacerbated by an already weakened economic structure. Add in budget cuts and there are fewer resources for the safety nets needed when unemployment is so high. Add all these factors and the area is ripe for hardship.”
A poverty rate measure that is “grossly out of touch with reality,” for instance, defined as an annual income below $23,850 for a family of four, may mean many of the working poor are just beyond the eligibility threshold for assistance.
That’s something director Vicki Seagle witnesses every day at the Benton-West City Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry.
“Since the recession hit, we’ve seen more of the working poor. They can’t make ends meet but they don’t qualify for assistance. It’s devastating to these individuals and families,” she said.
