“Elevate the Debate”
Milwaukee, WI
June 4 th , 2014
Wisconsin Poverty Summit
@WIPovertySummit
#ElevatetheDebate

Ken Taylor
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families
Robert Kraig
Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund
2

3

Federal Poverty Guidelines by Family Size
Persons in Family /
Household
1
2
3
6
7
4
5
8
Poverty Guideline
$11,670
$15,730
$19,790
$23,850
$27,910
$31,970
$36,030
$40,090
For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $4,060 for each additional person.
A full-time minimum wage job produces a gross income of $15,080


It is set at 3 times the minimum food diet in 1963

Does not include modern draws on resources like work expenses, transportation to work, medical bills

Not adjusted to modern living standards

Not adjusted by geography (varying living costs)

Does not measure depth of poverty

BUT is still best national measure

(Source, UW Institute for Research on Poverty)

6

Living Below the Federal Poverty Level 2010

Children and Seniors

16 Million
American children in the U.S. live below the poverty line
That’s more than the populations of
New
York
LA and
Chicago
COMBINED
=
100,000 people

Child Poverty Rates:
United States and United Kingdom
26.1
22.5
18.9
12.3
10.6
2010
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Cribb J, Joyce R, Phillip D. Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2012 . IFS commentary C124.

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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 4 th highest level of children living in concentrated poverty of the 50 largest cities

There are substantial racial disparities in child poverty rates
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Percent of the population living in poverty
By county, Wisconsin, 2006-2010
Source: American Community Survey, 2006-2010.
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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

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

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

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Social determinants of health

Income
• Access to health promoting goods and services
• Psychosocial effects linked with economic resources
• Cumulative effects over time and at critical periods.
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

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

Access to health care
Access to healthcare:
Lack of health insurance coverage among Wisconsin adults ages 18-64, by household income, 2008-2011
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Low income (<$20,000)
Middle income ($20,000-$74,999)
High income ($75,000+)
4%
34% 16%
No health insurance coverage, ages 18-64
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Source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS); 2008-2011 landline-only dataset.

10%
Chronic Diseases:
Age-adjusted rates of heart attack and stroke among Wisconsin adults, by household income, 2008-2011
Low income (<$20,000)
Middle income ($20,000-$74,999)
High income ($75,000+)
5%
7% 3% 3% 5% 2% 2%
0%
Ever had a heart attack Ever had a stroke
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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
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Vocabulary
1200
1000
CHILD ’ S
CUMULATIVE
VOCABULARY
800
600
400
200
0
Age of Child (in months)
42
Hart & Risley, 1995
Wealthy
Middle Class
Low
Income

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

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
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



 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

Common Beliefs about Poor People
Poor people are different from the rest of us
Poor people are lazy
Poor people exploit the system
Poor people make irresponsible decisions


Individuals

Families

Private Sector

Public Sector

Charitable Sector

Faith Communities
50

The only way to dramatically reduce poverty is to exercise the moral agency of our democracy

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.

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“Elevate the Debate”
Milwaukee, WI
June 4 th , 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
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Martin Luther King: Imaginary Letter from the Apostle Paul
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.
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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.
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“Elevate the Debate”
Milwaukee, WI
June 4 th , 2014
Wisconsin Poverty Summit
@WIPovertySummit
#ElevatetheDebate