More Kids in Poor Neighborhoods

A new “Kids Count” report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows that the number of children living in high poverty communities has increased by 25% over the last ten years.

Public News Service reports that the study shows that even if a family is not officially “in poverty” according to federal standards, it still harms children when a lot of other people in the neighborhood are.

Casey Foundation associate director of policy reform Laura Speer says that living in a poverty area limits the opportunities families have to get a better job and make sure their children are healthy and cared for.

2nd Annual Christmas Give-Away

The 2nd Annual Christmas Give-Away takes place this Saturday from 9 until 2 at Holy Angels School. Fresh produce, household items, toys, children’s clothing and some adult clothing will be given away.

The Knights of Columbus will be serving free hot dogs and hamburgers while supplies last.

Arizona Ranks Near Bottom in Child Homelessness

A new report ranks Arizona near the bottom for child homelessness.

The National Center for Family Homelessness report examines the extent of child homelessness, risk for homelessness, child wellbeing and state policy and planning.

Arizona is in 47th place overall. It ranks last among the 50 states for risk for homelessness, based on economic factors. The study compares Arizona’s $7.25 minimum wage to the $17 an hour needed to rent a 2 bedroom apartment. 27% of Arizona households pay more than 50% of their income for rent. And the five-year average percentage of children in poverty is 21%.

Vermont is the top ranked state and Alabama is 50th overall.

New Numbers Show Poverty at New High

The US Census Bureau has released new figures relating to the US poverty rate. The numbers are the result of a new system that takes into account rising medical costs and other expenses. This includes out of pocket medical care, child care and commuting. The figures also take into account non-cash government aid when calculating income, such as food stanps and tax credits.

The results show a record number of Americans living in poverty—16% or 49.1 million.
Americans 65 or older had the largest increases in poverty under the new experimental formula. They nearly doubled to 15.9%, or 1 in 6. This is because rising Medcare premiums, deductibles and expenses for prescriptiion drugs are not considered in the official rate.

And for the first time, the number of Hispanics living in poverty surpassed the number of African Americans, 28.2% to 25.4%.

Economists have long criticized the official poverty rate as inadequate, but they differ widely on better ways to calculate it. This experimental measure is based partly on recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences.

For more information go to www.census.gov.

Arizona Among Nation's Poorest States

US Census figures show that Arizona is among the poorest states in the nation.

Mississippi has the highest share of poor people with 22.7%. It is followed by Louisiana, the District of Columbia, Georgia, New Mexico and Arizona.

AZFamily.com reports that Arizona has 1.2 million people living in poverty. 1 in 5 Arizonans are poor and 1 in 4 Arizona children go hungry.

The least impoverished state in the nation is New Hampshire.

Arizona Among Worst States for Family Food Hardship

A new report from the Food Research and Action Center says that Arizona is among the lowest ranking states when it comes to families’ ability to put food on the table.

Public News Service reports that Arizona tied with Louisiana for seventh worst. 29% of Arizona families with children say they ran out of money to buy food at least once in the past year.

Arizona Communty Action Association program manager Katie Kahle says the number of Arizonans receiving SNAP benefits—formerly known as food stamps—is still rising, now at 1.1 million people.

Click here for the report.