▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Poverty in Oklahoma
Developed by: Jan Maples, Renée Daugherty, and Dave Shideler
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service/Oklahoma State University
Prepared with support from: Rachel Welborn and Meaghan Gordon
Southern Rural Development Center/Mississippi State University
January 2013, (Revised July/August 2013)
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Lesson Objectives:
• Understand alternative definitions of poverty
• Be able to describe current statistics about
poverty and how it affects communities,
Oklahoma and the nation
• Apply the issue of poverty to your lives and
discover the importance of action
• Generate a list of personal actions you
can take regarding the issue of poverty and
select one on which to work
• Describe the Tide project and consult with or
access other programs, websites, or resources
on the issue of poverty
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
True or False?
? The official poverty definition
(Census Bureau) uses money
income before taxes and does
not include noncash benefits.
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Answer:
? The official poverty definition
(Census Bureau) uses money
income before taxes and does
not include noncash benefits.
TRUE: The Census Bureau includes all
pre-tax wages, salaries, retirement and
other money income sources, but it does
not include non-cash benefit programs
like WIC, SNAP or housing vouchers.
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
What is the “official” poverty
definition?
A household is considered to be in
poverty if total household cash
income is less than the poverty
threshold.
• Cash income includes any unrestricted
sources of income
• Threshold reflects the cost of food and basic
services – not necessarily all living
expenses.
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Threshold values vary by:
• Household size
• Household composition (e.g.,
presence of elderly or children)
Threshold values do NOT vary by
geography!
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
2013 Poverty Thresholds
Sixe of family unit
Related children under 18 years
None
One
Two
Three
One person (unrelated individual).…..
Under 65 years....................………
65 years and over.................………
12,119
11,173
Two people.........................………..
Householder under 65 years...........
Householder 65 years and over...….
15,600
14,081
16,057
15,996
Three people.......................…………
18,222
18,751
18,769
Four people........................………….
24,028
24,421
23,624
The complete table of thresholds can be downloaded at:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/threshld/index.html
23,707
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
True or False?
? The northeastern U.S. has long been
the poorest region of the United
States.
? Oklahoma has the highest poverty
rate in the nation.
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
True or False?
? The northeastern U.S. has long been
the poorest region of the United
States.
FALSE: The southeastern region of the US has long
been the poorest region.
? Oklahoma has the highest poverty
rate in the nation.
FALSE: Mississippi has the highest poverty rate at
23.8%.
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
In Comparison…
Poverty
Percent
All Ages
Poverty
Percent
Under Age 18
Median
Household
Income
U.S.
15.9%
22.6%
$51,371
Oklahoma
17.2%
24.1%
$44,336
Okfuskee Co.
27.4%
34.3%
$31,556
Canadian Co.
8.4%
11.9%
$62,984
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
True or False?
? Poverty is solely the result of an
individual’s actions
FALSE: Poverty is not simply the result of “bad
choices.” While individuals may bear some
responsibility
for
their
circumstances,
social
institutions like educational systems, laws and
regulations, and a lack of exposure to alternative
ideas/classes, contribute to and can exacerbate an
individual’s poverty.
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
True or False?
? Poverty is solely the result of an
individual’s actions
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Poverty is
Everywhere
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Poverty: The extent to which an
individual does without resources.
-Ruby Payne
• Financial
• Emotional
• Knowledge of
hidden rules
• Mental
• Coping strategies
• Spiritual
• Integrity, trust
• Physical
• Support systems • Motivation,
persistence,
• Relationships/role
• Formal register
models
Sources: Bridges out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals and Communities (Payne, DeVol and Smith),
Bridges to Sustainable Communities: A system-wide, cradle-to-grave approach to ending poverty in America (DeVol),
Bridges out of Poverty presentation, Stillwater, OK May 2011
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Making It Personal:
Describe a time when you, or
someone close to you,
struggled with poverty (of any
kind).
What was it like?
How did others
react?
▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Let’s brainstorm…
Taking Action
Pledge Card…
I Can Do…
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Extension Resource People
Research-based information and Asset and Opportunity scorecard
………….Dave Shideler
Poverty in OK lesson………..Dave, Jan, Renee
Bridges out of Poverty………….Lindsey Miner
Poverty Simulation……………Jan, Brenda, Sonya, Jessica Nickel
Turning the Tide on Poverty…..Renee and Jan
Please turn in a brief evaluation. Thanks!
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▀ Poverty in Oklahoma
Appendix
Alternative Measures of Poverty
Additional Resources on Poverty
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Other measures of poverty
-free & reduced lunches
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
State of OK
58.9
60.6
61.5
Cushing
62.9
61.5
61.5
Glencoe
79.7
78.1
73.1
Oak Grove
50
54.1
47.2
Perkins-Tryon
44.3
47.5
48.2
Ripley
76.9
76.8
80.3
Stillwater
41.2
41.7
45.0
Yale
71.4
70.5
75.1
Taken from the Data & Information Report for Payne County, OK; Section C, Table 4.
http://www.okruralhealthworks.org
To qualify, household income must be less than 185% of the poverty guideline for reduced meals, 130%
of the poverty guideline for free meals
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Other measures of poverty
-% of personal income from transfer payments
Total Personal
Income, 2012
State of Oklahoma
Okfuskee County
$154,958,271,000
$315,307,000
Personal
Transfer
Payments, 2012
Transfer
Payments as
a % of Total
Income
$28,702,760
18.5%
$114,467,000
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Table CA05N
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36.3%
Other measures of poverty
-The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Oklahoma, 2009
http://www.selfsufficiencystandard.org/docs/OK%202009%20All%20Families.xls
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Audiences for Poverty in OK
presentation:
•
•
•
•
OHCE and 4-H
In-Service Training for Head Start staff
Northeast Alliance for Economic Inclusion
Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League
Brainstorming of other uses:
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Poverty in Ok
Components
•Marketing flyer
•Evaluation
•Presenter guide
•Handouts
All components are free downloads from
http://agecon.okstate.edu/econtrends/index.asp?type=publications
And on D2L under OCES-Extension-FCS-Educator-Resources
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Other resources:
•
•
•
•
Turning the Tide on Poverty
The Poverty Simulation
Bridges out of Poverty
Asset and Opportunity Scorecard
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Turning the Tide on Poverty
Raises awareness about poverty among the general public through civil dialogue that
leads to community-wide action
Community
Circles
Plan for
Action
Action
Facilitator
Training
Action
Forum
Kick
Off
Recruit
Participants and
Facilitators
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Work On
Actions
Community Change
Organize
Tide outcomes in OK
(Okfuskee Co. 2009-12)
Tide outcomes
(other Tide states):
• Helped residents overcome apathy
• Caused small communities to see
similar issues and learn together
• Found employment for some receiving
TANF
• Helped create community unity &
pride
• Created a Clearview community
vegetable garden
• Helped stop youth gang violence (AL)
• Allowed high school’ers to realize
leadership potential and build conflict
resolution skills by working on
community issues (LA)
• Created food pantries, clothing closets,
community gardens, and Community
Resource Directory (MS)
• Planted fruit trees, created farmers’
market, and developed actions to
improve the quality of schools (MS)
For more information about Turning the Tide on Poverty:
http://srdc.msstate.edu/tide/results.html
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Poverty Simulation
(Missouri Association for Community Action)
•
•
•
•
•
Needs for simulation:
• 25 – 80 participants
• 18 – 20 volunteer staffers
• large gym or fair building
Extension Educators and kits are
available to assist
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Purpose: To sensitize participants to
realities faced by low-income people
Participants assume roles of different
families facing poverty
Length: 2 ½ to 3 hours consists of
introduction/briefing, the simulation,
debriefing and pre and post assessments
Bridges out of Poverty
Builds upon Ruby Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty
http://www.ahaprocess.com/solutions/community/
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Communities with Bridges programs in OK
Coordinated by The Salvation Army Oklahoma-Arkansas Division
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Compatibility of Programs
• Ex: 2-Day Extension In-Service consisting of Bridges out
of Poverty training on Day 1 and Poverty Simulation on
2nd Day
• Ex: OSU Medical School Students
• Training consisting of 1 hour 15-minute Poverty in
Oklahoma presentation followed by Poverty Simulation
• Ex. In a county, conduct Turning the Tide on Poverty
program, using the Poverty Simulation as the Kick-off
event. Possible community action outcomes could include:
• Conducting the Poverty Simulation for the general
public
• Conducting the Bridges out of Poverty program
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Asset and Opportunity Scorecard
(cfed, http://assetsandopportunity.org/scorecard/)
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Other State Extension
Resources:
“Tough Work, Understanding and Serving
People in Poverty while Caring for
Yourself”
Ohio State University Extension
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