Campaign Outlines Strategies to Cut Poverty in Half Over Next Decade
Starting the clock on the work of cutting poverty in the United States by half over the next ten years, the Half in Ten campaign today released a new report outlining measurements and strategies to help achieve that goal.
“Restoring Shared Prosperity: Strategies to Cut Poverty and Expand Economic Growth” features a set of indicators that will assess how effectively the U.S. is reducing poverty, creating good jobs, strengthening families, and promoting economic security. Accompanied by an online interactive map, the report also evaluates and ranks each state based on the set of indicators. Texas, for example, with a poverty rate of 17.1 percent, was ranked 41st in 2010.
The indicators tracked for each state, along with the current national figures, are below:
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Poverty Rate Percentage of people in the state who fell below the official poverty line in 2010 U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 15.3% (2010) |
Disconnected youth Percentage of young people aged 16-19 who are neither in school nor the workforce U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 9% (2010) |
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Food Insecurity Rate Percentage of households unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of all their members at some point during the year U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 14.5% (2010) |
Teen Birth Rate per 1000 Number of births to teenagers (15-19 year olds) per 1000 births in the state in 2008 U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 41.5 |
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Unemployment Rate Percentage of unemployed workers in the state during an average month in 2010 U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 9.6% (avg. month 2010) |
Without Health Insurance Percentage of state residents without health insurance coverage U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 16.3% (2010) |
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Equal Wage Gap Amount a woman earns for every dollar a man would earn in the same job in 2010 U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 78.6¢ (2010) |
Foster Care Population per 100,000 children Number of children in foster care per 100,000 children under age 18 in the state U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 533 |
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High School Graduation High school graduation rate for 2008 U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 74.7% |
% of Unemployed Receiving UI Benefits Percentage of unemployed workers in the state receiving unemployment insurance benefits in 2010 U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 66.0% |
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25-34 year-olds with associate’s degree or higher Percentage of young people ages 25-34 in the state with an associate’s degree or higher in 2008 U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 37.5% |
Percent without a bank account Percentage of state residents without savings or checking accounts U.S. TOTAL/RATE: 7.7% |
The Half in Ten campaign’s effort to reduce poverty has taken on
added urgency in the wake of a Great Recession that has led to increased
poverty, entrenched unemployment, and heightened economic insecurity
for millions of Americans.
Between 2006 and 2010, the poverty rate in the U.S. increased by 2.8
percent, rising from 12.3 percent of the population, or 36.4 million
people, to 15.1 percent of the population, or 46.2 million people.
Additionally, the Half in Ten campaign reports that:
- In 2009, the number of families with at least one unemployed member
increased to 12 percent, nearly double the 6.3 percent in 2007. -
In 2004, the median net worth of white households was $134,280
compared with $13,450 for black households, but amid the Great Recession
at the end of 2009, the median net worth for white households fell 24
percent to $97,860 while plummeting 83 percent to $2,170 for black
households. - In 2010, the real median income fell 2.3 percent to $49,445 and 50 million people went without health care coverage.
- In 2010, 22 percent of America’s children fell into poverty.
The Half in Ten campaign and its partners – The Leadership Conference
on Civil and Human Rights, the Center for American Progress Action
Fund, and the Coalition on Human Needs – believe that the U.S. can
reverse these trends and lay the foundation for helping more
Americans move out of poverty. As Wade Henderson, president and CEO of
The Leadership Conference, said at a Half in Ten event to release the
new report, “Poverty is not a moral failing or a natural condition. Nor
is it an inevitable consequence of our economy.”
The policy proposals recommended
by Half in Ten are grouped under the three broad categories of:
creating more good jobs, strengthening families and communities, and
promoting family economic security.
- For the full report, the introduction and summary, and to download individual chapters, click here.
- Click here to download a fact sheet with each state’s data.
- For a one-pager summarizing national trends and for advocacy resources, visit the report’s resources page.
- Click here to see the report’s top 10 findings.
- Support Half in Ten’s goal to cut poverty in half in 10 years and sign the pledge today.