Iowa
State Government
Governor
Kim Reynolds (R)
State Senate
16
Democrats,
34
Republicans
State House
36
Democrats,
64
Republicans
Economic well-being - Iowa
Extreme poverty rate
0.1
Food insecurity
0.1
Minimum wage
7.3
Percent of working families under 200% of the poverty line
0.3
Poverty rate
11.3%
Unemployment rate
3.8
Number of Black or African American children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Number of Hispanic or Latino children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Percent of individuals who are uninsured
5.4
Des Moines Register, March 11, 2012: (Op-Ed) What education reform misses: A big share of kids are in poverty
"Iowa has always seen itself as a Norman Rockwell-poster kind of place, comfortably middle class with no extremes of wealth or poverty. That ideal is rapidly fading.The official rate of poverty in Iowa remains below the national average. It was 12.6 percent in 2010, compared to the national rate of 15.3. But the Iowa rate has been rising faster than the national rate. If the trend continues, Iowa will soon match or surpass the national average in poverty."
Des Moines Register, March 11, 2012: What education reform misses: A big share of kids are in poverty
"But poverty can be a marker for other conditions that do affect learning: broken homes, single parenthood, homelessness, drug abuse, poor nutrition, untreated sickness, weak English, serial live-in boyfriends, fathers in prison, children left alone, poorly educated parents who can't help with homework or who disparage education."
Des Moines Register, September 7, 2011: Repaid loans lure dentists to rural Iowa
"In addition, Delta Dental will contribute another $50,000 to each dentist for a total of $100,000 in loan repayment funds. The recipients also must provide dental care to under-served populations in their communities including Medicaid, disabled, elderly, nursing home residents, refugees and the homeless."