Cincinnati: Top 10 poorest
Poverty rate rises; Up to 27% in city
BY ALEXANDER COOLIDGE | ACOOLIDGE@ENQUIRER.COM
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Jay Roberts, a 31-year-old disabled forklift operator, can't seem to catch a break.
Just when he got a lead on a place for his family to stay temporarily, his Lower Price Hill house got broken into while he was at St. Vincent de Paul in the West End. He's current on his rent, but his landlord is in foreclosure, and his water has been shut off.
Health officials say his three children, ages 1 to 5, have been exposed to lead, and they need to leave the dilapidated home. His wife, Rachel, makes about $7.30 an hour working part time at Meijer, but a move could likely disrupt the monthly $1,025 he collects in welfare and food stamp benefits.
"I'm dead in the water - that's all I got," he said. "I really don't want to put my kids into a homeless shelter."
New federal data show that poverty remains a problem in Cincinnati, which continues to rank among the 10 poorest cities of 250,000 residents or more.
Cincinnati's 2006 poverty rate was 27.8 percent - third-highest among major cities behind Detroit and Buffalo - according to a new estimate released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The American Community Survey estimate has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points - enough to move the city's ranking up to No. 2 or down as far as No. 8.
While Cincinnati has been on and off the list of the top 20 poorest cities for several years, the latest estimate shows that poverty here might be getting worse. The rate was 25 percent in 2005, compared with 19.6 percent in 2004 and 21.1 percent in 2003.
U.S. POVERTY ON DECLINE
Meanwhile, the nation's poverty rate dropped last year, the first significant decline since 2000 and the first since President Bush took office.
Roughly 36.5 million Americans, or 12.3 percent - were living in poverty last year, according to the separate Census Bureau report based on its Current Population Survey. That's down from 12.6 percent in 2005.
Hispanics were the only racial group with a statistically significant drop in poverty, to 20.6 percent from 21.8.
The average household income was $65,527, a slight increase from the previous year. One of 15 states to have a statistically significant rise in income was Kentucky. Not all the income news was good, however. Median annual earnings by full-time workers was down for the third year in a row.
The poverty level is the official measure used to decide eligibility for federal health, housing, nutrition and child-care benefits. It differs by family size and makeup. For a family of four with two children, for example, the poverty level in 2006 was $20,444.
The rate helps shape the debate on the health of the nation's economy.
'SEE THIS OVER AND OVER'
Local experts say Cincinnati's battle with poverty is multifaceted.
"I wish it were uncommon, but we see this over and over," Liz Carter, executive director at St. Vincent de Paul, said, referring to Roberts. But many stable families live paycheck to paycheck only to be upended by poor health or other unforeseen circumstances, and a spiral happens.
"Someone gets sick, and it's like somebody pulled the plug. My groups are getting more and more calls for help, but it's hard to say why this is happening."
Kim Sullivan, a spokeswoman for People Working Cooperatively, said the region's aging population coupled with a lackluster economy makes Cincinnati more vulnerable: "People can't eke by like they used to. When people get older, their health expenses increase. People who were OK in their 50s and 60s begin to struggle."
George Vredeveld, director of the Economics Center for Education and Research at the University of Cincinnati, said the poverty rate reflects the city's historic reliance on waning manufacturing jobs.
"There's been a dramatic decrease in manufacturing jobs, and we've historically been heavy on manufacturing employment," he said.
Still, Vredeveld added that Cincinnati's relatively small geographic footprint - less than 20 percent of Hamilton County's area - makes poverty here look worse than in cities that are more spread out, such as Indianapolis and Columbus.
The Associated Press and the New York Times contributed.
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