Facts of Life for Arkansas Children
I do not care for statistics much more than the rest of us do, but sometimes they can be helpful in painting a picture of how things really are. Near the opening of the Session, a coalition of non-profits against poverty made a presentation to the legislature. I believe, in hopes of inspiring them to do more for the Arkansas poor. To date, little has been done this legislative session.
Here are our Facts of Life.
Arkansas ranked 48th. in median household income ($34,246). The per capita income of $18,566 was 80% of the national average.
51% of Arkansas households earned lass than $35,000 and 218,184 households lives on less than $15,000 in income and benefits.
More than 89,000 families lived in poverty. 78% of them had children under 18 years old.
12% of our children live in extreme poverty meaning less than 50% of the poverty level.
Families with women as head of household lived below the poverty level and of those, 90% had children under 18 years old.
Despite high poverty levels – only 2% receive public cash assistance. Less than 5% receive Supplemental Security Income and only 10% receive Food Stamp Benefits.
The family income standard shows that families must earn at least 167% of the federal poverty level to meet all their basic needs without government or charitable assistance.
So far our legislature has assured themselves a pay raise, begun the process of again raising taxes, debating how much and where to spend the new bond monies for new and improved highways and spent weeks debating the definition of marriage to be used in our school text books.
Come on ladies and gentlemen of the legislature, you’ve all seen the proposed federal budget with the most massive cuts in domestic programs in history. Do something for our children and families. If you fail to act this session where are these numbers going to be two years from now when you meet again?
Just a few weeks ago, a Mother with three small children called me using a phone from a neighboring business. She had no money. Her infant was sick and she had run out of diapers the night before. All she asked for was a package of size two diapers. After a quick trip to Wal-Mart I delivered the diapers only to find out her gas had been shut off and she had an eviction notice served on her three days before. It was 36 degrees outside. This, my elected friends, is life.
How can you spend time even thinking about bigger buildings at our universities, personal pay increases and new highways knowing there are children going to bed tonight… HUNGRY… right here in our state.
The above are based on census statistics. Arkansas had a total population of about 2.5 million at the time of this report.
Here are our Facts of Life.
Arkansas ranked 48th. in median household income ($34,246). The per capita income of $18,566 was 80% of the national average.
51% of Arkansas households earned lass than $35,000 and 218,184 households lives on less than $15,000 in income and benefits.
More than 89,000 families lived in poverty. 78% of them had children under 18 years old.
12% of our children live in extreme poverty meaning less than 50% of the poverty level.
Families with women as head of household lived below the poverty level and of those, 90% had children under 18 years old.
Despite high poverty levels – only 2% receive public cash assistance. Less than 5% receive Supplemental Security Income and only 10% receive Food Stamp Benefits.
The family income standard shows that families must earn at least 167% of the federal poverty level to meet all their basic needs without government or charitable assistance.
So far our legislature has assured themselves a pay raise, begun the process of again raising taxes, debating how much and where to spend the new bond monies for new and improved highways and spent weeks debating the definition of marriage to be used in our school text books.
Come on ladies and gentlemen of the legislature, you’ve all seen the proposed federal budget with the most massive cuts in domestic programs in history. Do something for our children and families. If you fail to act this session where are these numbers going to be two years from now when you meet again?
Just a few weeks ago, a Mother with three small children called me using a phone from a neighboring business. She had no money. Her infant was sick and she had run out of diapers the night before. All she asked for was a package of size two diapers. After a quick trip to Wal-Mart I delivered the diapers only to find out her gas had been shut off and she had an eviction notice served on her three days before. It was 36 degrees outside. This, my elected friends, is life.
How can you spend time even thinking about bigger buildings at our universities, personal pay increases and new highways knowing there are children going to bed tonight… HUNGRY… right here in our state.
The above are based on census statistics. Arkansas had a total population of about 2.5 million at the time of this report.
posted by The Merlin Foundation | 2:11 PM
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