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Akron
Beacon Journal
Ohio
outpaces most of the country in growth of extreme poverty
By
Dave Scott
September
18, 2013
More
Ohioans can be called the poorest of the poor.
The
percentage of people at the very bottom, earning 50 percent of the
poverty level or less, grew from 4.6 percent of Ohioans in 2000 to
7.6 percent in 2012, for a 65 percent increase, according to U.S.
census data released today.
Only
three other states, Michigan, Georgia and Mississippi, saw extreme
poverty go up more than 3 percentage points. Only 14 other states
have an overall higher percentage of extreme poverty than Ohio, which
follows closely behind Tennessee at 7.7 percent and North Carolina at
7.9 percent.
The
highest is Mississippi at 10.2 percent. The District of Columbia has
10.4 percent.
The
poverty level is determined by the government based on an
individual’s circumstances and is used to determine various
benefits. For a family of four in Summit County, the poverty level
might be around $22,000 a year. To get in the group that showed the
remarkable increase, the same family would be making $11,000 a year
or less.
Rob
Nichols, spokesman for Gov. John Kasich, pointed out that the same
report showed overall poverty — everyone earning under the poverty
level — had a slight decrease, from 16.4 to 16.3 percent of all
Ohioans.
Kasich
took office in 2011 and Nichols said holding the governor responsible
for the increase in extreme poverty is “kind of asking us to take
ownership for 10 years we had no control over.”
Nichols
pointed to the governor’s jobs program and said, “Things are
improving and more Ohioans are getting back to work and as a result
communities are getting stronger, but there is a lot more work to do.
And we have never said Mission Accomplished on any of this.”
More
demand at shelter
Akron-area
leaders who follow the poverty situation said they were not surprised
by the census data.
Jeff
Kaiser, executive director of Haven of Rest Ministries, said many who
could be called the poorest of the poor have been showing up at his
doorstep...
Read the rest of the
article at the Akron Beacon Journal
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