Poverty Day Resource Guide
On September 10, the Census Bureau released findings from the Current Population Survey, including new national data on poverty, income and health insurance coverage in the United States. On September 22, the first part of the American Community Survey (ACS) was released featuring data on health insurance coverage. On September 29, Census released ACS data on income and poverty. All ACS figures include 2008 estimates for all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and every congressional district, as well as a breakdown of numbers for counties and communities with populations of 65,000 or more. On October 27, the Census Bureau released 2006-2008 ACS data covering communities with populations of 20,000 or more.
In collaboration with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Spotlight has gathered the following resources to help journalists, policymakers and advocates locate timely analysis, statements and events examining the new figures. Additional resources will be listed as they become available.
To add your organization as a resource in this guide, please contact Helina Teklehaimanot at helina@thehatchergroup.com
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity and the Annie E. Casey Foundation do not take position on legislation and do not endorse or support any candidate for public office. We provide information on poverty and opportunity to foster public debate and to build public will to reduce poverty.
OFFICIAL DATA FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
New data from the Census Bureau finds that the poverty rate for 2008 was 13.2 percent or 39.8 million people -- an increase of approximately 2.5 million Americans in 2008 alone. To read the report,
Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008, click
here.
REPORTS AND ANALYSIS
The Joint Economic Committee convened a hearing to examine new Census data on income, poverty and health insurance coverage. Click below to read witness testimony.
The September 2009 issue of
The American Prospect
includes a special report on new approaches to fight poverty. In addition to an editorial that looks at efforts to develop a new measure of poverty, the report features articles by national poverty experts.
KIDS COUNT is a national and state-by-state project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation to track the status of children in the United States. The Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Data Center includes community-level data in addition to city, state, and national data. Find more than 100 indicators of child well-being, including economic status, health, safety, and risk factors. Create your own maps, graphs, and charts for use in presentations or on your own website. Following the release of the Census data, the Annie E. Casey Foundation will updated the more than 70 ACS- and CPS-based indicators posted on their KIDS COUNT Data Center website.
The Brookings Center on Children and Families held its
seventh annual policy briefing to discuss the new Census Bureau figures and their implications for families and policymakers. The event featured new estimates of the impact of the recession on future poverty rates. A panel of experts offered their analysis on the Census report and perspectives on the significance of the new data. Brookings also released the following briefs and commentaries:
Isabel V. Sawhill
Emily Monea and Isabel V. Sawhill
Gary Burtless
A report from the Carsey Institute analyzing the Census Bureau's ACS data finds that child poverty rates among children under six years old varied by region, with rates in the rural Midwest rising significantly, while rates in Northeastern central cities fell slightly. The Carsey analysis also finds persistent child poverty in the rural south, where more than one in three young children are likely to be poor. Overall, the report finds that one in five young children lived in poverty in the United States in 2008. To read the report, click
here.
Center for American Progress (CAP) released three new reports examining the new Census data, including:
By Joy Moses
Liz Weiss
Heather Boushey
Additional commentary about the new figures will be posted on CAP's blog,
thinkprogress.org.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a statement from Robert Greenstein, president of CBPP, on the new health insurance and poverty data. Following the release of the ACS figures, CBPP will release state-by-state analysis of the data.
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), released two reports examining the latest Census Bureau figures:
EPI’s Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN), a network of state and regional multi-issue research, policy, and advocacy organizations will release a report using figures from the new Census and ACS poverty data, available at
www.earncentral.org
.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation funds a nationwide network of state-level KIDS COUNT projects that provide a more detailed, community-by-community picture of the condition of children. The KIDS COUNT Network improves programs and policies for children and families by collecting and reporting credible data and promoting the use of data-based advocacy and communications strategies.
Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families will produce two press releases around the data releases; the release connected to the ACS data will focus on children.
Working with the Minnesota Budget Project and Minnesota Housing Partnership, the Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota will distribute a press release on the poverty data. The Minnesota KIDS COUNT Data Book, scheduled for release the following week, will incorporate analyses of the Census data.
Kentucky Youth Advocates will conduct media outreach and create materials focusing on the Kentucky-specific data. KYA will also use the opportunity to highlight the updated economic well-being data on the KIDS COUNT data center.
Massachusetts Citizens for Children will conduct media outreach and create materials focusing on the Massachusetts-specific data. MCC will use the opportunity to highlight the latest Massachusetts KIDS COUNT indicators of child well-being that came out in late July, likely highlighting potential weak spots with regard to child well-being in the Massachusetts, including the children in poverty, the increase in the percentage of children with parents without secure employment, and infant mortality. The press release and new poverty data will be posted on the Massachusetts Citizens for Children website and shared with the organization’s partners and collaborators. The organization also plans to send a letter to selected members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation encouraging their co-sponsorship of H.R.2558 and S.1151, The State Child Well-Being Research Act of 2009 with the new poverty data included.
The Michigan League for Human Services plans to issue a statement following the September 10th CPS release focusing on the need for health care reform, and highlighting the basic principles necessary for effective reform. For the ACS releases, the organization plans to work with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Coalition on Human Needs to develop a Michigan fact sheet and press release, and field media questions about the policy implications of the growth in the poverty rate.
The New York State Council on Children and Families is developing a research brief on child poverty that will be completed by the end of 2009, incorporating the most recent poverty data.
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT analyzes data from the CPS and ACS each year and releases data on the percentage of children without health insurance and the percentage of children in poverty. RI KIDS COUNT will distribute two press releases – one on September 10, 2009 focusing on health insurance coverage and one on September 22, 2009 focusing on childhood poverty. In October, the organization plans to release an Issue Brief on child poverty to provide more in-depth information on the child poverty rate and to help community leaders, advocates, and policy makers make sense of the numbers and better understand variations in the child poverty rate by subgroups (e.g., race/ethnicity, age, and family structure). As in previous years, RI KIDS COUNT will also present data on child poverty at Data in Your Backyard events in each of the six “core cities” in the state that have child poverty rates in excess of 15 percent.
For both the CPS and ACS poverty data releases, the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families will distribute a press release with the organization’s analysis of the Wisconsin data and position themselves as a local resource for reporters covering the story.
The National Center for Children in Poverty will be updating their online data tools and electronic Fact Sheet Publication Series to reflect the new data.
NCCP Data Tools to be updated in September:
NCCP Publications to be updated in October:
Following the release of the U.S. Census poverty data, the National Council of La Raza will prepare briefing materials that look at Latino poverty and highlight key trends.
Spotlight
is coordinating a campaign on Twitter.com to highlight the importance of the new Census Bureau figures and raise awareness of poverty in the United States. The goal is to get as many people and organizations as possible to “tweet” about the new national poverty numbers.
Spotlight
is currently seeking partner organizations to join the campaign. There are two different ways to participate:
If your organization has a Twitter account, Spotlight asks that you tweet about the release of the data on September 10 using what is called a “hashtag.” For this campaign, which is called Poverty Data Day, the hashtag will be #PDD.
If your organization does not have a Twitter account, you can promote the campaign on your website, blog or newsletter.
Following the release of the national Census Bureau figures, the Urban Institute released the following reports and commentaries:
Gregory Acs
Signe-Mary McKernan, Caroline Ratcliffe and Stephanie R. Cellini
Stephanie R. Cellini, Signe-Mary McKernan and Caroline Ratcliffe