For Missouri, 637,891 people or 11.7% are living at or below the federal poverty guidelines according to the 2000 Census. These are the poorest Missourians. These poverty guidelines are based on the cost of one item; food, when they were developed 40 years ago. There are 20,170 individuals in our seven-county area that fall into this category.

 

There are an additional 989,702 Missourians with incomes just above the poverty level. That’s 31,688 people in our service area. Most of these families lack sufficient resources to adequately meet their basic needs.

 

Housing and child care are by far the greatest expenses for working families with children. Families with two children generally spend about half of their income on these two expenses. The average monthly rent for a two-bedroom housing unit ranges from $415 in Carroll County to $784 in Lafayette County. The average monthly cost of child care for two children (a full-time pre-school- (full-time) and a school-aged child) ranges from $262 in Chariton County to $404 in Ray County.

 

About 1.1 million Missourians (43% of the total employees in the state) are working in 30 occupations and almost half of these workers are paid less than $10 an hour for their work.  The move from public assistance to a paycheck does not mean an escape from poverty. In the era of welfare reform in the United States (between 1995 and 2002) the number of families on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) dropped by 50%. During the same time period, the number of “working poor” families increased from 25% to 40%. Between fiscal year 2000 and 2001, community action agencies reported an increase of 250,000 working poor individuals participating in agency programs. 1.7 million “working poor” individuals were served by community action agencies in 2003.

 

The causes and conditions of poverty do not stand alone. There are a number of interrelated "core" aspects of family functioning that appear to be critical to both the economic survival and advancement of working poor families. These include: Emergency Cash Assistance (for family stability), Housing

Child Care, Health Insurance, Medical Care, Transportation, Positive, supportive relationships and Higher Education.  Working poor families need stability in a variety of life functions in order to maintain participation in the workforce and additional supports to advance economically.

 

Did you know?

·    Almost 30,000 individuals in our seven-county area have a reading level of second grade or below, and are, therefore, functionally illiterate.

·    10,781 or 37.2% of school-aged children in our seven-county area participate in the free and reduced lunch program, another indicator of poverty. These children score an average of 16 percentage points lower in academic achievement rates than other students.

·    Families living in poverty tend to move more frequently. Children who move four or more times during their childhood are more likely to drop out of school than less mobile children.

·    Only 1 in 10 students from families with incomes between $10,000 and $25,000 go to college, and only 21 % from low income families ($24,999 or below) complete a bachelor's degree. This is in significant contrast to the 62% that come from high income families ($75,000 and above).

 

Support MVCAA’s efforts to end poverty in your community.