Race Ethnicity Class & Gender
90% of Black Children on Food Stamps
Published November 05, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
In one of the most dramatic examples I've seen of the true reach of hunger in the United States, a new report released this week by Washington University in St. Louis researchers found that 90 percent of black children will be clients of the national Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/Food Stamps) at least once by the time they turn 20.
Although the percentage is less for white children (the only other ethnic group studied), the startling statistic here is that, at some point before their 20th birthday, 50 percent of all children in the United States will have received SNAP benefits.
More than being about access to food, the report's lead researcher says his findings represent a more important trend in the upbringing of the country's children. "Rather than being a time of security and safety, the childhood years for many American children are a time of economic turmoil, risk, and hardship," says Mark Rank, Ph.D.
Bing Wins Full Term to Lead Detroit
Published November 04, 2009 @ 04:58AM PT
Lots of Mayoral races last night, with specific marching orders to revitalize and continuously improve our cities. I'll be back later today with some thoughts on their different charges, but here's a quick round-up:
David Bing is elected for a full-term in Detroit.
Wunderkind Luke Ravenstahl is re-elected in Pittsburgh.
Bloomberg wins by less than anticipated in NYC for his self-appointed third term (basically).
Menino wins easily, but also by a smaller margin than usual, in Boston. He's now the city's longest serving Mayor, beginning his 6th term today.
Lawrence, MA elects its first Latino Mayor, William Lantigua - the first in MA.
In Atlanta and Houston, no decisions yet.
Any key elections in your neck of the woods?
And Maine voters, WTH????
Stimulus Bypasses Minority Businesses
Published November 03, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
Criticism abounds of the unequal distribution of stimulus funds: high per capita allocations to low population, low unemployment states like Wyoming versus low per capita amounts to struggling states like CA; and the limited allocations reaching women- and minority-owned businesses compared to their proportion of the population.
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity at The Ohio State University finds that "While approximately 14 percent of businesses are minority owned, the study shows that minority owned businesses received only 9.6 percent of federal contracts." Almost 3 in 10 businesses are owned by women, yet these firms received only 3% of stimulus funds. This disturbing inequity raises questions about the goals of the stimulus and the (surprising?) lack of focus on reducing economic inequality.
Most Elderly Job Seekers Since the Great Depression
Published October 29, 2009 @ 08:54PM PT
As a nation, we haven't done too well on reducing poverty overall, but one point of pride has been our success in reducing elder poverty through the creation of Social Security, Medicare, and a general prioritizing of affordable housing and social services for older Americans. Especially considering older Americans' voting power, these programs are generally considered sacrosanct, despite the best efforts of Bush & Co.
So this article from last week is particularly alarming: more Americans aged 65 and up are on the job market than at any other time since the Great Depression - and five times more elderly than just a few years ago. Indebtedness is way up, and economic insecurity is widespread. Are we reversing one of our few anti-poverty successes of the 20th century?
Seeing Hartford
Published October 29, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
I arrived in Hartford, CT last Wednesday for a Friday night wedding at a 19th century-bank-turned-banquet-hall venue. In high spirits but absolutely rushing around in Boston earlier last week to get ready for the wedding extravanganza, I joked on Wed evening that my future mother-in-law was solving the great bridal nail crisis 2009, i.e., finding me a place in Hartford to get a manicure. In a city of 125k people, how hard could it be?
Very, it turned out, if you're from out-of-town and relying on local boosters to recommend services to you. Boosters are what we planners and political scientists call the folks who sell cities to us - the media, local politicians, business owners, real estate developers - so that we will want to come and live there, do business there, spend money there. A family friend, the banquet manager and the hotel concierge all recommended a single nail salon in the entire city, which didn't have enough staff to see me on Thursday. I finally settled on the concierge's third recommendation, which came with numerous caveats, and turned out to be as run down and rough as warned - but my manicure was only $10!
Connecticut's urban model is one of very wealthy suburbs surrounding deeply poor towns: just check out the differences in poverty between neighboring West Hartford (4.5%) and Hartford (31.5%). For everything we needed for the wedding we were directed to the suburbs - no grocery store downtown, no market, no spare salon that people in the service industry want to send a white, middle-class client to, for fear of my fear and reprisal. What was more amazing was that there was actually a market two doors down from my venue, though it did not sell milk, but looked an awful lot like a deli/bodega/convenience store otherwise.
Poverty News Round-up
Published October 20, 2009 @ 01:25PM PT
Too many interesting tabs open in my browser to select just one story today. Here's the latest on poverty news and activism happening around the US:
- Thank you feds! For stepping in and telling Indiana that allowing private employers to use welfare data to screen potential employees is "inappropriate" and "not allowed." Ya think?
- If port cities Oakland and Long Beach, CA, have such similar demographic profiles, including lots of poverty, why is crime so much worse in Oakland? It's unclear, but fortunately there's a new police chief in town to try and reverse the city's terrifying trends.
- We've come a long way from the days of "No Irish Need Apply" - AG Andrew Cuomo in NY has charged EMC Construction with exploiting its workers, including using a three-tiered wage system for Irish ($25/hour), Black ($18/hour) and Latin@ ($15/hour) workers. Nothing encourages worker solidarity like abusive wage gaps!
- Mayor Bloomberg is creating jobs in NYC, but are they good jobs? The short answer: No.
- What the state gives, the market taketh away. Bloomberg builds or preserves 72k low-income housing units, 200k disappear due to vague and mysterious "market forces." Don't look under your beds at night, kiddies!
- And finally, let this be a lesson to other states: Indiana is pulling the plug on privatizing its welfare system, after thousands of eligible recipients lost benefits. One old measure they're bringing back in? Face-to-face interactions between recipients and case workers. Good to see we haven't quite eliminated jobs as we insist TANF recipients go find some.
(Photo of A.M. Walzer Co. US Inlay Puzzle Map by Marxchivist)
Flint: Back to the Land
Published October 19, 2009 @ 06:20AM PT
I thought about calling this post "Flint: Uplifting and Depressing" to quote the competing descriptors given to the city working to stabilize itself sustainably in the face of population decline and a lost economic base. This is one of those articles that often tires me, as its efforts to report on any source of progress during long-term shifts like rebuilding an eviscerated city can leave readers buoyed with false hopes or impatient for more positive outcomes ASAP. But it's a telling story of the highs and lows of fighting poverty - the reality that Flint is still deteriorating in places, even as potential new jobs and land uses come to the fore as officials and residents seek to turn around their hometown.
The main focus of the article is creative uses of land - an abundant resource in Flint - such as turning vacant properties into local gardens. For some Americans, a return to the land, rustic, pioneering movement is an economic necessity or the most viable economic solution. So it goes on one street in Flint.
As we know here at Poverty in America, both small scale and large scale efforts like this are happening all over the country. I praise local governments for allowing residents to exercise some creative control over their neighborhoods alongside government efforts to preserve housing, retain or bring in good jobs, and provide for citizens' economic well-being, safety and health.
(Photo of the Beresford Community Garden in San Mateo, CA by Vicky Moore)
