New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that poverty continued to grow in Illinois in 2011. According to estimates from the census bureau’s American Community Survey, about 1.9 million Illinoisans were living in poverty in 2011. That compares with about 1.7 million living below the poverty line in 2010.
“These near-unprecedented poverty levels are not simply the result of the recession and a sluggish recovery. Poverty was on the rise before the recession began as broader shifts in wages, job quality, workforce preparation, inequality and harmful cuts to the safety net disproportionately impacted people at the lower end of the income spectrum,” Amy Rynell, director of the Social IMPACT Research Center at the Heartland Alliance, said of the new poverty stats.
Last year, the census bureau considered a family of three with a household income of $17,916 or less to be living in poverty; in 2010 it was $17,374 for three people. In 2011, 15 percent of Illinois residents were living in poverty, which is a jump from 13.8 percent in 2010. The numbers from the census bureau are the most current comprehensive statistics available on poverty. For more on 2010 poverty numbers, see this Illinois Issues Blog post.
According to the bureau's findings, the median household income in the state has been slipping during the last three years for which figures are available. In 2011, it was $53,234, down from $58,743 in 2008. Nationally, the poverty rate held relatively steady. It was 15.3 percent in 2010 and increased slightly to 15.9 percent in 2011. About 48.5 million Americans were living in poverty last year.
The Illinois Commission on the Elimination of Poverty, which includes members of the Heartland Alliance, set the goal of cutting extreme poverty in half by 2015, but the new statistics show that the state is losing ground. Extreme poverty is defined as an income that is less than half of the federal poverty level. Almost 100,000 more Illinoisans were living in extreme poverty in 2011 than in 2010.
You can read Jamey's full report at: http://illinoisissuesblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/new-statistics-show-poverty-continues.html
In the pic: One of Dorothea Lange's FSA photos of the poverty-stricken Thompson family.
5 comments:
Another result of the greed of unions.
Errr...the economic downturn was caused by deregulation of our banks (read up on the Financial Services Modernization act and the repeal of Glass Steagall). Only a Faux Newz watcher would blame labor on the current economic downturn. Quit staring at shiny objects and pick up book.
You both scare me.--ed.
I think that photo is by Dorothea Lange. I believe of the Thompson family.
I think you're right. (And I'da sworn, too.) I'll fix it.--ed.
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