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“Elevate the Debate”Milwaukee, WIJune 4th, 2014
Wisconsin Poverty Summit
@WIPovertySummit
#ElevatetheDebate
Poverty in Wisconsin
Ken TaylorWisconsin Council on Children and Families
Robert KraigCitizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund
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Definitions
3
Federal Poverty Guidelines by Family Size
For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $4,060 for each additional person.
Persons in Family / Household
Poverty Guideline
1 $11,670
2 $15,730
3 $19,790
4 $23,850
5 $27,910
6 $31,970
7 $36,030
8 $40,090
A full-time minimum wage job produces a gross income of $15,080
Fed. Poverty Definition Limited
Magnitude and Dimensions
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Children are the Most Impoverished Group
% Poverty by AgeLiving Below the Federal Poverty
Level 2010
% Poverty by AgeLiving Below the Federal Poverty
Level 2010
8US Census Bureau
% Poverty Over Time: 1959-2010
Children and Seniors
% Poverty Over Time: 1959-2010
Children and Seniors
9Sachs JD. The Price of Civilization. 2011, Random House, NY. Chapter 10, pp. 185-208
16 Million American children in the U.S. live below the poverty line
=
100,000 people
That’s more than the populations of
New York
LA
and Chicago
COMBINED
Child Poverty Rates:United States and United
Kingdom
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2010
10.6
22.5
Smeeding T, Waldfogel J. Fighting childhood poverty in the US &UK: and update. 2010.Cribb J, Joyce R, Phillip D. Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2012 . IFS commentary C124.
26.1
18.9
12.3
Poverty in Wisconsin
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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 4th highest level of children living in concentrated poverty of the 50 largest cities
There are substantial racial disparities in child poverty rates
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Percent of the population living in povertyBy county, Wisconsin, 2006-2010
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Source: American Community Survey, 2006-2010.
Free/Reduced Lunch Eligibility Reveals Trend in WI Child
Poverty
Concentrated and deep poverty
The added challenge of extreme poverty:
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100,000 Wisconsin children live in deep poverty
Racial Disparities in Wisconsin
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The poverty rate for Black kids in Wisconsin is 4X higher than for White kids
The Economy
Income Inequality Trend
Source: https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/inequality/index.html
The wealthiest 400 now have same wealth as half of all Americans
America is No Longer the Land of Opportunity
59% of Milwaukee African American men not employed
Source UWM Center on Econ Development
Minimum Wage Jobs Increasingly Support Families, Lost Ground
Minimum Wage over $2.00 per hour less then 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
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Women earn 77 cents on the dollar Over a million dollars in lost lifetime earnings
Personal Story: Income
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Poverty & Health
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What Impacts Health?
Social determinants of health
Income
Sources: RWJF 2008, Obstacles to Health Report, Szanton 2005,RWJF-Stable Jobs http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs/new-public-health/2013/01/stable_jobs_health.html
Braveman, Paula. Income Wealth and Health. RWJF Special Issue Brief http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2011/rwjf70448
• Access to health promoting goods and services
• Psychosocial effects linked with economic resources
• Cumulative effects over time and at critical periods.
Employment
Sources: RWJF-Stable Jobs http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs/new-public-health/2013/01/stable_jobs_health.html
Access to healthcare: Lack of health insurance coverage among Wisconsin adults ages 18-64, by household income, 2008-2011
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Source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS); 2008-2011 landline-only dataset.
Access to health care
Chronic Diseases:Age-adjusted rates of heart attack and stroke among Wisconsin
adults, by household income, 2008-2011
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Source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS); 2008-2011 landline-only dataset.
Wisconsin Rejection of Enhanced Medicaid Dollars Leaves over 84,000 without Affordable Health Care
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Personal Story: Health
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Racial Disparities in Incarceration
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Juvenile Arrest Rates
Adult Arrests
Personal Story: Incarceration
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Education
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Vocabulary
Hart & Risley, 1995
Wealthy
Low Income
Middle ClassCHILD’S
CUMULATIVEVOCABULARY
Age of Child (in months)
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
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Students Not Graduating With a Regular Diploma in Four Years
Source: Hansen et al (2013) PLoS One http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131211183752.htm
Low-Wage Worker Education
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Real Wisconsin state school spending plummets to 17 year low--biggest cuts to high poverty districts
What beliefs get in the way of addressing the challenge
of poverty?
We Don’t Have Enough Money
Raising wage floor harms the economy
Its no longer possible to solve big social problems
Personal vs. Systems Analysis of social & economic issues
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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
American Poverty Ideology
Common Beliefs about Poor People
Individuals Families Private Sector Public Sector Charitable Sector Faith Communities
Roles—It Takes a Village
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Only bold measures can reverse the poverty and rising inequality
Must combine reform of the private economy with a substantial investment in social safety net and education
Denying a government role constitutes a surrender of our own moral agency as a society.
The voices of our moral leaders must he heard.
The only way to dramatically reduce poverty is to exercise
the moral agency of our democracy
The End
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“Elevate the Debate”Milwaukee, WIJune 4th, 2014
Wisconsin Poverty Summit
@WIPovertySummit
#ElevatetheDebate
Support working families Immediately Health care Raise the minimum wage Family leave/ paid sick days Support early learning
Build the skills and education of Wisconsin’s workforce
Invest in bold economic strategies to open opportunity and restore economic mobility
Make state taxes more equal across income groups Earned Income Tax Credit
Sampling of Policy Prescriptions
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The misuse of Capitalism can also lead to tragic exploitation. They tell me that one tenth of one percent of the population controls more than forty percent of the wealth. Oh America, how often have you taken necessities from the masses to give luxury to the classes. If you are to be a truly Christian nation you must solve this problem.
Martin Luther King: Imaginary Letter from the Apostle Paul
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Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons. Poverty today is a cry.
Pope Francis
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“Elevate the Debate”Milwaukee, WIJune 4th, 2014
Wisconsin Poverty Summit
@WIPovertySummit
#ElevatetheDebate