“Elevate the Debate”Milwaukee, WIJune 4th, 2014

Wisconsin Poverty Summit

@WIPovertySummit

#ElevatetheDebate

Poverty in Wisconsin

Ken TaylorWisconsin Council on Children and Families

Robert KraigCitizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund

2

Definitions

3

Federal Poverty Guidelines by Family Size

For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $4,060 for each additional person.

Persons in Family / Household

Poverty Guideline

1 $11,670

2 $15,730

3 $19,790

4 $23,850

5 $27,910

6 $31,970

7 $36,030

8 $40,090

A full-time minimum wage job produces a gross income of $15,080

Fed. Poverty Definition Limited

Magnitude and Dimensions

6

Children are the Most Impoverished Group

% Poverty by AgeLiving Below the Federal Poverty

Level 2010

% Poverty by AgeLiving Below the Federal Poverty

Level 2010

8US Census Bureau

% Poverty Over Time: 1959-2010

Children and Seniors

% Poverty Over Time: 1959-2010

Children and Seniors

9Sachs JD. The Price of Civilization. 2011, Random House, NY. Chapter 10, pp. 185-208

16 Million American children in the U.S. live below the poverty line

=

100,000 people

That’s more than the populations of

New York

LA

and Chicago

COMBINED

Child Poverty Rates:United States and United

Kingdom

11

2010

10.6

22.5

Smeeding T, Waldfogel J. Fighting childhood poverty in the US &UK: and update. 2010.Cribb J, Joyce R, Phillip D. Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2012 . IFS commentary C124.

26.1

18.9

12.3

Poverty in Wisconsin

12

What do we know about Wisconsin?

Although our child poverty rate is still below the national average (18% vs. 23%): Wisconsin’s rate has grown faster than the national rate over the decade

Milwaukee has the 4th highest level of children living in concentrated poverty of the 50 largest cities

There are substantial racial disparities in child poverty rates

13

Percent of the population living in povertyBy county, Wisconsin, 2006-2010

14

Source: American Community Survey, 2006-2010.

Free/Reduced Lunch Eligibility Reveals Trend in WI Child

Poverty

Concentrated and deep poverty

The added challenge of extreme poverty:

16

100,000 Wisconsin children live in deep poverty

Racial Disparities in Wisconsin

18

   

The poverty rate for Black kids in Wisconsin is 4X higher than for White kids

The Economy

Income Inequality Trend

Source: https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/inequality/index.html

The wealthiest 400 now have same wealth as half of all Americans

America is No Longer the Land of Opportunity

59% of Milwaukee African American men not employed

Source UWM Center on Econ Development

Minimum Wage Jobs Increasingly Support Families, Lost Ground

Minimum Wage over $2.00 per hour less then 1968

Minimum Wage workers in 2014 are much more productive and better educated

87% minimum wage workers 20 years or older 57% are women 45% have some college education 587,000 Wisconsin workers make less than $10.10 per hour

26

Women earn 77 cents on the dollar Over a million dollars in lost lifetime earnings

Personal Story: Income

28

Poverty & Health

29

What Impacts Health?

Social determinants of health

Income

Sources: RWJF 2008, Obstacles to Health Report, Szanton 2005,RWJF-Stable Jobs http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs/new-public-health/2013/01/stable_jobs_health.html

Braveman, Paula. Income Wealth and Health. RWJF Special Issue Brief http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2011/rwjf70448

• Access to health promoting goods and services

• Psychosocial effects linked with economic resources

• Cumulative effects over time and at critical periods.

Employment

Sources: RWJF-Stable Jobs http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs/new-public-health/2013/01/stable_jobs_health.html

Access to healthcare: Lack of health insurance coverage among Wisconsin adults ages 18-64, by household income, 2008-2011

33

Source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS); 2008-2011 landline-only dataset.

Access to health care

Chronic Diseases:Age-adjusted rates of heart attack and stroke among Wisconsin

adults, by household income, 2008-2011

34

Source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS); 2008-2011 landline-only dataset.

Wisconsin Rejection of Enhanced Medicaid Dollars Leaves over 84,000 without Affordable Health Care

35

Personal Story: Health

36

Racial Disparities in Incarceration

37

Juvenile Arrest Rates

Adult Arrests

Personal Story: Incarceration

40

Education

41

Vocabulary

Hart & Risley, 1995

Wealthy

Low Income

Middle ClassCHILD’S

CUMULATIVEVOCABULARY

Age of Child (in months)

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

42

Students Not Graduating With a Regular Diploma in Four Years

Source: Hansen et al (2013) PLoS One http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131211183752.htm

Low-Wage Worker Education

45

Real Wisconsin state school spending plummets to 17 year low--biggest cuts to high poverty districts

What beliefs get in the way of addressing the challenge

of poverty?

We Don’t Have Enough Money

Raising wage floor harms the economy

Its no longer possible to solve big social problems

Personal vs. Systems Analysis of social & economic issues

47

Faith in markets to distribute resources to the most deserving

Poor are personally responsible for condition

Anyone can make it who is moral (American Dream)

Doing harm by doing good (Dependency) Deservedness

Contingent on work Contingent on behavior

American Poverty Ideology

Common Beliefs about Poor People

Individuals Families Private Sector Public Sector Charitable Sector Faith Communities

Roles—It Takes a Village

50

Only bold measures can reverse the poverty and rising inequality

Must combine reform of the private economy with a substantial investment in social safety net and education

Denying a government role constitutes a surrender of our own moral agency as a society.

The voices of our moral leaders must he heard.

The only way to dramatically reduce poverty is to exercise

the moral agency of our democracy

The End

52

“Elevate the Debate”Milwaukee, WIJune 4th, 2014

Wisconsin Poverty Summit

@WIPovertySummit

#ElevatetheDebate

Support working families Immediately Health care Raise the minimum wage Family leave/ paid sick days Support early learning

Build the skills and education of Wisconsin’s workforce

Invest in bold economic strategies to open opportunity and restore economic mobility

Make state taxes more equal across income groups Earned Income Tax Credit

Sampling of Policy Prescriptions

54

The misuse of Capitalism can also lead to tragic exploitation. They tell me that one tenth of one percent of the population controls more than forty percent of the wealth. Oh America, how often have you taken necessities from the masses to give luxury to the classes. If you are to be a truly Christian nation you must solve this problem.

Martin Luther King: Imaginary Letter from the Apostle Paul

55

Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons. Poverty today is a cry.

Pope Francis

56

“Elevate the Debate”Milwaukee, WIJune 4th, 2014

Wisconsin Poverty Summit

@WIPovertySummit

#ElevatetheDebate