![[Poverty at Issue]](../images/poverty2.gif)
A Newsletter for Individuals Concerned About Poverty in Missouri
A Newsletter for Individuals Concerned About Poverty in Missouri
Spring 1997
Who are the Poor?
Welfare Mothers Speak Out
After months of intense debate, Missouri's legislature ended this year's session
without passing a new welfare law. In the coming session, during an election year, it
looks likely that another welfare bill will be introduced and the debate will begin again.
In the meantime, Missouri's Department of Social Services is responsible for implementing
welfare reforms mandated by federal legislation passed last fall. It seems clear that
community-level decisions and programs will have a growing impact on Missourians living
below the poverty line.
This Poverty At Issue offers some basic facts about "the poor," a diverse and
dynamic group. Poverty is associated with a number of factors, many of which are not under
the control of those most affected. Some of those factors are discussed as well as
implications for program planning.
This Poverty At Issue also summarizes findings of a recent qualitative research study of
welfare recipients in Maine. Researchers identified a number of themes that arose from a
lengthy survey of 929 respondents living on welfare. Finally, there is a brief summary of
characteristics that make family programs successful, based on a review of existing
research literature as well as a frame work for thinking about community capital
formation.
I hope you find the information helpful.
Brenda Procter
Consumer and Family Economics Specialist
Implications for Programming
Research on Poverty
The public generally agrees that government has some obligation to provide support for
those who are unable to meet basic needs. Yet, until recently, poverty rates have been
rising steadily. In 1995, 36.4 million Americans lived in poverty. Currently, one of every
five US children is poor. There also is great concern that the former welfare system
fostered long-term dependency on government subsidies.
Research has documented long-lasting negative effects of poverty on children's health,
educational progress, and social adjustment. We know poverty is harmful and creates
tremendous future costs to society. Poor children are more likely to fall behind in
academic achievement, require expensive medical treatment, or become delinquent. There is
considerable controversy about the best approach to help those in poverty.
Policy makers must balance meeting the needs of those in poverty with their concern that
they will foster welfare dependency among able-body adults. Welfare reform reflects a
desire to change the current system of transfer payments based on income requirements to a
welfare system that is work-based. Providing employment training and job search assistance
has been shown to increase income and decrease reliance on welfare in small demonstration
projects, but also is initially more expensive than simply providing monthly transfer
payments.
This research summary provides information about the poor, causes of poverty, and barriers
to escaping poverty.
Who are the poor?
The poor are a diverse group. Less than half of the poor receive AFDC, and the largest
source of income for families with poor children is employment. A significant proportion
of the poor (17.8%) work full-time, year-round. Almost two-thirds of those in poverty are
white and 38% are children. Rates of poverty are slightly higher in rural counties than in
metropolitan areas. The elderly make up about a tenth of all persons in poverty.
In recent years, the declining value of wages for unskilled men and low wages for women
have made young families especially vulnerable. Forty percent of children in families
headed by an adult less than 30 are poor.
The depth of poverty has increased as well. The number of persons with incomes below 50%
of the official federal poverty level-the poorest of the poor-has steadily risen over the
last two decades.
There is much movement in and out of poverty, with one-half of those who are poor in any
one year not poor in the following year. Poor elderly or disabled persons are more likely
to remain poor for extended periods.
The rural poor are likely to remain in poverty longer than the urban poor, especially
rural female-headed households. The working poor are most likely to leave poverty
relatively quickly.
The length of time spent on welfare also varies among the poor who seek assistance. Thirty
percent are the working poor and short-term welfare recipients whose circumstances will
improve within a few years. Another forty percent may remain on welfare for up to eight
years. They have low earning capacity due to low education level, and/or their gender or
race, and may have a sense of hopelessness that diminishes work motivation. In addition,
their responsibility for young children may limit their employment options or reduce their
net gain from employment due to child care costs.
The remaining thirty percent are the truly "welfare dependent." They may have
additional barriers to becoming independent of welfare-physical or mental illness of
themselves or a dependent, illiteracy, chemical dependence or disabilities.
What Keeps Families in Poverty?
Many of the factors that keep people poor are barriers to earning. Medium-term recipients
face long spells of poverty due to low earning capacity and/or lack of higher wage job
opportunities. Some experience self-esteem and motivation problems.
Unemployment, involuntary part-time employment, and low wages are the primary causes of
poverty for the working poor. Families with no workers, married couple families with one
earner, and families with only a part-time worker have much higher poverty rates than all
families with children.
Low skill or education levels and functional illiteracy are both causes of and barriers to
escaping poverty. Only 6.3% of high school graduates are poor, compared to 15.7% of high
school dropouts. One in four poor workers is functionally illiterate, and two in five lack
a high school diploma.
Both women and minorities face lower wages and fewer job opportunities due to
discrimination and are more likely to be poor. The strong effect of education on earnings
is evident for both males and females, with females earning less than males at every level
of education. Females need some college to earn as much as a male high school dropout.
Blacks and Hispanics earn considerably less than whites although the gap is larger for
males than for females.
In addition to these disparities among those who work full-time, year-round, one study
found the most important factors related to lower women's wages were having less
education, being employed less than full-time, year-round, having a non-union job, and
fewer years of work experience.
As mentioned, long-term welfare recipients may have behavioral problems such as chemical
dependence or mental illness that impair their ability to secure or maintain employment.
Others may be unable to work due to medical problems, disabilities, or old age.
Family Structure
Family structure also plays a role in causing poverty. Having more children and/or fewer
earners in a family can cause poverty, especially if the primary earner is unskilled.
Seventy-six percent of working families with one earner are poor, while only 24 percent of
working families with two or more earners are poor.
Poverty rates are higher in large families. Of families with five or more children, 53.3%
are poor compared to 25.5% of families with three children, and 12.6% of families with one
child. However, poor families are only slightly larger than non-poor families on average.
Most poor families have one or two children (63.5%), 21.8% have three children, and 14.7%
of poor families have more than three children.The growing numbers of single-parent
families are much more likely to be poor because 1) they have fewer earners to contribute
to family income, 2 ) fewer adults provide unpaid child care within the family, and 3)
most single parents are women (and therefore earn lower wages than men).
Low rates of child support from non-custodial parents, usually the higher wage-earning
father, further disadvantage these single-parent families. The proportion of single-parent
families has risen steadily among all families, and since these families are more likely
to be poor, a growing proportion of poor families are female-headed. About half of all
poor families in 1994 were single-parent, female-headed families, with three-fourths of
poor African American families being female-headed.
Changes in Available Jobs and Welfare Benefits
Gradual changes in the structure of the overall economy also have influenced the number of
families in poverty. A decline in the number of high-paying manufacturing jobs, and a rise
in the number of part-time and temporary jobs in service industries have increased
poverty. Workers more often face low wage levels and the lack of unemployment insurance or
other benefits. There has been a steady decline in the real value of wages for men and
women, especially young and unskilled workers, in the 1980s, as well as a failure of the
value of the minimum wage to keep pace with inflation.
From 1973 to 1991, the average real hourly wage for male high school graduates fell 20.6%
while the average real hourly wage for female high school graduates fell 6.4%. The real
value of wages fell more for young workers than for older workers, putting young families
at a greater disadvantage.
Married couple families compensated for these trends by increasing labor force involvement
of wives, but single- earner families have suffered large decreases in real income.
In addition to employment and family structure, declines in the real value of government
transfer payments in the 1980s meant fewer families were lifted above poverty thresholds
by public assistance. The percentage of government spending on poverty programs has
remained fairly steady at about 1% of the gross domestic product. However, the number of
persons in official poverty increased from 11.7% in 1979 to 14.5% in 1992. In addition,
poverty programs do not reach all families. Most programs reach 40 to 60% of poor
households, with housing programs reaching fewer than one-fifth of poor households.
Other Barriers to Employment
Lack of transportation and child care, particularly for women, are additional factors
contributing to an inability to escape poverty. Unreliable transportation, especially in
rural areas, acts as a barrier to keeping employment for both men and women. Cost and
availability of child care also limit employment and mothers' ability to gain work
experience. Most male poverty is caused by low wages. Most female poverty is caused by
barriers to employment including being a single parent, having children, the number of
children, concerns about the quality of day care, being a high school dropout, and
illness.
Lack of child care has been repeatedly cited as a barrier to employment for mothers on
AFDC and in JOBS programs. In one simulation of the effects of subsidizing child care,
single welfare mothers' labor force participation was estimated to rise from the current
12% to 38% with fully subsidized child care.
Child care is not a problem restricted to welfare mothers; working poor mothers are also
constrained by the cost and availability of child care. Among poor and low-income families
in 1991, only about a third paid for child care, with most obtaining free care from
relatives and by having parents work alternating shifts. For those who did pay, child care
costs were 33% of income for working poor families compared to 13% for non-poor families
earning less than $25,000, and 6% for families with incomes above $25,000.
How Can Program Planners Make a Difference?
Programming for low-income families can result in significant benefits. Through
educational programming or community coalition building, teachers and facilitators can
contribute to improved earning capacity, and reduce or eliminate barriers to employment,
thereby improving families' quality of life.
Important first steps are to assess existing community attitudes toward the poor and seek
input from those in the community who are living in poverty. When necessary, community
leaders can educate themselves about the causes of poverty and the diversity of those in
poverty. In Missouri, the county Extension office can assist with gathering county-level
demographic data to aid in profiling the characteristics of those in poverty.
Programmers can consider the following questions:
The well-documented diversity of causes for poverty suggests the need for a variety of
program efforts. Welfare reform provides additional programming needs at the community
level. Families may need information on changes in government programs. Local community
leaders may need education about poverty and the realities of those who experience it, and
about how federal or state policy changes affect the community. A variety of stakeholders
and citizens can provide leadership as communities create local responses to lessen
poverty, mitigate against its negative effects, and deter future costs of poverty.
Adapted from Poverty & Welfare Reform: A Resource Guide for Communities and
Educators, by Karen F. Folk, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension Service.
And This Is What They Speak About
Researchers report that six conceptual themes emerged in the large volume of
qualitative data contained in the responses:
Adapted from "Welfare Mothers Speak: One State's Effort to Bring Recipient Voices
to the Welfare Debate." Butler, Sandra Sue, and Mary Katherine Nevin. Co-published
simultaneously in Journal of Poverty (The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 1, No. 2, 1997, pp.
25-61; and: Income Security and Public Assistance for Women and Children (ed: Keith M.
Kilty, Virginia E. Richardson, and Elizabeth A. Segal) The Haworth Press, Inc., 1997, pp.
25-61.
1997 Poverty Guidelines
| Family Size | Annual Income |
| 1 | $7,890 |
| 2 | 10,610 |
| 3 | 13,220 |
| 4 | 16,050 |
| 5 | 18,770 |
| 6 | 21,490 |
| 7 | 24,210 |
| 8 | 26,930 |
| For family units with more than eight members... | ...add $2,720 for each additional member. |
What Do They Have in Common?
A Capital Idea
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Jeanne Bintzer, HES Extension Site Administrator
bintzerj@missouri.edu
Brenda Procter, Consumer and Family Economics Specialist, Content Provider
procterb@missouri.edu