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Adam
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This is absolutely horrible. A family of 4 that makes $20,000 is not even considered poor. I'm a family of 1 and make a little over $20,000 a year and still consider myself poor.
[url]http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-38/115694941176100.xml&coll=5 [/url]
FLINT - Flint has become the poorest large city in Michigan, with nearly one of every three people now living below the poverty level, according to a new Census Bureau report.
Flint's percentage of residents living in poverty last year increased from 26.4 percent in 2000 to 32.5 percent in 2005, passing Detroit (31.4 percent) and putting it far ahead of other Michigan communities with at least 65,000 people.
The report came as no surprise to some of those who work with the poor in Flint and have seen the concentration of poverty rise with the loss of good-paying jobs.
"This city is in need of a prayer being answered," said Flint native Patrick McNeal, a pastor who runs My Brother's Keeper, a Flint shelter for homeless men. "(Poverty is) going to continue to inch upward (because) there's really very few jobs where people can make a livable wage."
In Genesee County as a whole, however, the percentage of people living in poverty dropped from 17 percent in 2004 to 15.9 percent in 2005.
"We have fewer people living in the city, and the people being left behind are the people with the least ability to relocate," said County Treasurer Daniel T. Kildee. "When people who are working leave the community, it increases the percentage (of people in poverty)."
The Census Bureau report said 37 million people (12.6 percent) were in poverty nationwide in 2005. Both the number and the rate were statistically unchanged from 2004, according to a news release.
Michigan's poverty rate rose from 12.3 percent in 2004 to 13.2 percent in 2005.
The poverty threshold for a family of four in 2005 was a household income of $19,971. It was $15,577 for a family of three, $12,755 for a family of two and $9,973 for unrelated individuals.
But even amid the rise in poverty, household income in Michigan rose from 2004 to 2005, recovering somewhat from earlier declines.
The Census Bureau report shows the state's median household income increased by more than $1,100 to $46,039. The median household income is the level at which half of households make less and half make more.
Census records show that Michigan's median household income has had its share of peaks and valleys in recent years, inching up to $45,688 in 2001 but then dropping to $44,315 in 2002. In 2003, it jumped up to $46,291 but sank again in 2004 to $44,905.
"You could have a blip up in the median income in the last year, but was it a significant increase or just a blip?" asked Sharon Parks, a spokeswoman for the Michigan League for Human Services, a Lansing-based anti-poverty group. "What's more important is the poverty rate. It's an indication of the level of need out there that is not being addressed. It should serve as a real wake-up call."
Joe Conroy, an aide to Flint Mayor Don Williamson, said he would want more information about poverty rates in cities similar to Flint - such as Saginaw and Battle Creek - before commenting in detail.
Information from those cities was not included in the Census Bureau report.
Conroy said Flint's economy has "bottomed out and will go forward."
"We think the answer to this for the most part is to try to develop the jobs the community has (lost) because General Motors has gone from 83,000 (employees) to probably 10,000 to 12,000," Conroy said.
The Census Bureau last year said Detroit was Michigan's poorest city, with a 33.6 percent poverty rate. Detroit's rate dropped in the new report. Flint wasn't included in last year's report, but its poverty rate rose sharply since 2000.
Capt. John Williams, Genesee County commander for the Salvation Army, said it's not just raw percentage but the type of people drifting into poverty and asking for help that is alarming.
"Almost 70 percent are first-time clients asking for help," said Williams. "These are not people who don't have jobs, ... (but) they are working jobs paying $7 an hour instead of $20 an hour."
The Salvation Army helps pay utility bills, operates food pantries and offers mortgage and rent assistance to keep families in their homes.
Williams said he sees promising things in Flint, but expects several years of struggle ahead.
The community has not given up on trying to help people in poverty, he said.
"I see a community that reaches out and helps a lot more than I see (elsewhere)," he said. "There's a lot of hurt, but I see a lot more people willing to help."
McNeal said so many people have contacted him recently that the board that oversees his shelter is looking for ways to open it all year.
It isn't expected to reopen until November.
"I've had more people contact me in the last two months than have the last four or five years," he said. "That really says something."
The Census Bureau also released information on health insurance coverage, showing that the number of Michigan citizens without health insurance was 11.4 percent in 2005, compared with 11.6 percent in 2004 - a minor change, but analysts say it reverses the trend of increases in recent years.
Observers said the slight improvement in health coverage might come from the fact that the number of Michigan residents covered by Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor, is at a record-high 1.5 million.
Other findings in the report include:
Livingston County had a median household income of $71,546 in 2005 - the highest among counties surveyed (those with populations of 65,000 or more). Rounding out the top five were Oakland, $64,022; Clinton, $59,495; Ottawa, $56,984; and Monroe, $55,663.
The poverty rate for children 18 years and younger was the highest in Berrien County in southwest Michigan with 30.6 percent. The rest of the top five were Wayne, 29.1 percent; Van Buren, 25 percent; Saginaw, 24.9 percent; and Genesee, 23.6 percent.
Demographers urge caution in interpreting the data, noting that it is difficult to measure changes between years since the bureau has used different surveys over the years. That could increase the margin of error in the results. |
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Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:17 pm |
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