A MILE IN HER SHOES

The poor are having many of the same problems they have always had, and government cuts are making it even harder to obtain welfare dollars and assistance,

Those who are falling out of their once ‘middle class’ socioeconomic status are the ‘debt poor

DefinitionsEncarta® World English Dictionary

Poverty 1. state of being poor: the state of not having enough

money to take care of basic needs such as food, clothing, and housing

2. lack: a deficiency or lack of something "poverty of emotion"

Synonyms: lack, deficiency, scarcity, shortage, dearth, paucity, scarceness, insufficiency

Antonyms: surplus, affluence

Income level defining poverty: a level of income below which somebody is considered to

be living in poverty. It is based on the price of basic necessities and is usually determined by a government.

**************** Working-age adults ages 18-64 saw an increase in poverty

from 13.7 percent to 15.5 percent, due mostly to commuting and child care costs.

The Sedgwick County 2012 Data Book estimates show that median household incomes fell 2.8 percent between 2007 and 2010, while the number of county residents living in poverty rose from 13 to 15.3 %.

WHO is POOR?

Credit card debt, grew by 315 % between 1989 and 2006, to $876 billion.

One study showed when subtracting consumer debt interest payments from incomes an additional 4 million Americans fell below their respective poverty thresholds in 2007.

This is an example of being “debt poor”.

They are not counted as poor using traditional poverty measures, but become poor after subtracting consumer debt interest payments from income.

Census Bureau

Poverty numbers are stark, but they mask the hardship faced by millions more families who cannot meet their basic needs even though their income falls above the official—and inadequate—poverty line.

They are subject to foreclosure or bankruptcy. As of November 12, 2012 there were at least 1705 homes in foreclosure in Sedgwick County alone.

The American dream of owning a home in the ‘burbs’ became tainted during the last decade.

Between the years of 2000 and 2010, the suburbs became plagued with poverty. These families are subject to foreclosure or bankruptcy.

53% of residents living in the suburbs classified as poor. As of 2008 more than a third of America’s poor lived in suburbs.

Median household incomes in Sedgwick County fell 2.8 percent between 2007 and 2010, while the number of county residents living in poverty rose from 13 to 15.3 percent,

In Sedgwick County 40% of female led households with children under age 18 live in poverty. In 2010 the percentage of children who qualified for free or reduced school lunches in Wichita was 74%.www.sedgwickcounty.org/healthdept. “2012 Data Book”

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Census estimates released in the last month show

Their children very often have to do without and are not able to participate in school activities. This affects not only the self-esteem of their children, but the psychological state of the woman as she trudges on in her inadequately funded job.

In 2010 ten and a half million Americans were able to classify themselves as the working poor. They were employed at least 27 weeks out of the year, but their incomes ranked them below the poverty line.

In the last four to five years, the average hourly wage dropped for the lowest 70% of American workers, and the lowest-paid employee felt it the worst. Women are paid the least- especially in unskilled labor.

In the event of a divorce, a woman's standard of living will drop 15% while the man's will rise 10%, according to one Harvard study

"Most women aren't aware of that fact." Another chilling statistic? The average age of widowhood is 57, according to Openshaw

There are more than two million unmarried mothers who are near poor, with an income between 100 and 150 percent of the poverty level; and 15.1 percent of unmarried mothers are nearly poor.

More than half of near-poor mothers are unmarried. U.S. Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008, Issued September 2009.

If forced into the role of head of household due to domestic violence, a woman has the added worry and stress that goes along with the after-effects such as PTSD, depression, difficulty with concentration, and their lingering physical ailments which affect their employability.

Studies have shown after an incident of physical or sexual assault a woman is twice as likely to be unemployed 1 year later.

If all of those issues were not bad enough, days missed from work attending to court dates and other legal issues affect their ability to remain employed.