With the release of new data showing poverty on the rise in Seattle and throughout the nation, government services are needed more than ever to help children, families and individuals from falling even deeper into poverty. This is the view of Desmond Brown in his recent article in New American Media.
Oct. 12 anti-poverty lecture
Join award-winning anti-poverty scholar, teacher and organizer, Dr. Donna Beegle, Ed.D. for her presentation “From Isolation to Access: Communication that Expands Our Community’s Capacity to Care.” Dr. Beegle will speak on Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the downtown Seattle Public Library. For details, please visit this Web site.
Local poverty rates
Earlier this month, the U.S. Census Bureau released the American Community Survey data for 2010, including Seattle and King County poverty rates. For more information on the breakdown of these rates by race and ethnicity, please click on this link.
Poverty up, household income down: report
Household incomes shrank for a second year in 2009, as the recession eroded the share of American families earning more than $100,000 and swelled the ranks of people who are poor or barely making it. Income estimates out on Sept. 28 from the American Community Survey, a wide array of census statistics reported annually, show the recession’s effect on millions of families.
The median income of $50,221 is down about 4 percent from its peak since the recession began in December 2007. Median household income that year was $52,384. About $1,500 of that loss occurred last year. The story was no different in the Seattle area. In King County, the median household income was down 4.7 percent, to $67,806. Snohomish County households fared slightly better, slipping 3.1 percent to $64,658. The percentage of King County households making $100,000 and more declined from 32.2 percent to 31 percent, and the percentage of those making less than $25,000 increased from 15.8 percent to 16.7 percent.
For more details read this article in the Seattle Times.
Report: number of children in poverty rising
The 2010 Child and Youth Well-Being Index is an analysis by the Foundation for Child Development. Among other findings, the report shows that the number of children living in poverty this year in the U.S. will climb to 22 percent, the highest in two decades.
