More Ohioans can be called the poorest of the poor.
The percentage of people at the very bottom, earning 50 percent of the poverty level or less, grew from 4.6 percent of Ohioans in 2000 to 7.6 percent in 2012, for a 65 percent increase, according to U.S. census data released today.
Only three other states, Michigan, Georgia and Mississippi, saw extreme poverty go up more than 3 percentage points. Only 14 other states have an overall higher percentage of extreme poverty than Ohio, which follows closely behind Tennessee at 7.7 percent and North Carolina at 7.9 percent.
The highest is Mississippi at 10.2 percent. The District of Columbia has 10.4 percent.
The poverty level is determined by the government based on an individual’s circumstances and is used to determine various benefits. For a family of four in Summit County, the poverty level might be around $22,000 a year. To get in the group that showed the remarkable increase, the same family would be making $11,000 a year or less.
Rob Nichols, spokesman for Gov. John Kasich, pointed out that the same report showed overall poverty — everyone earning under the poverty level — had a slight decrease, from 16.4 to 16.3 percent of all Ohioans.
Kasich took office in 2011 and Nichols said holding the governor responsible for the increase in extreme poverty is “kind of asking us to take ownership for 10 years we had no control over.”
Nichols pointed to the governor’s jobs program and said, “Things are improving and more Ohioans are getting back to work and as a result communities are getting stronger, but there is a lot more work to do. And we have never said Mission Accomplished on any of this.”
More demand at shelter
Akron-area leaders who follow the poverty situation said they were not surprised by the census data.
Jeff Kaiser, executive director of Haven of Rest Ministries, said many who could be called the poorest of the poor have been showing up at his doorstep.
In the mission’s fiscal year that ended in June, Kaiser said 316,000 meals were served. That’s up from 286,000 meals the previous year.
People asking for lodging increased from 64,000 nights to 71,000 nights in the same period.
Some of those asking for help might even have jobs but are still overwhelmed.
“You might have a mom who had two jobs and a place to stay, and she loses one job and she wound up at the mission,” Kaiser said.
Women represent the fastest-growing group, but Haven of Rest is not full.
“We’ve been able to handle the influx, fortunately,” Kaiser said. “We have churches that help us.”
New ideas needed
Nicole M. Booker, director of development for Akron Summit Community Action Inc., said many people would be surprised to learn some of their neighbors are poor.
“The poor are getting poorer,” she said. “We have far less mobility (the ability to rise to a better income level) and equality than years ago.”
She said fighting poverty will need some new ideas.
“We can link it all back to education policy in some way, shape, or form,” she said.
An example of innovation is Summit County’s Bridges Out of Poverty programs, she said, but other ideas are needed.
Dan Flowers, president and chief executive of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, said the report came just as Congress is considering cuts in subsidies for food stamps, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
He said food banks nationwide deliver about $5 billion in food to the poor, which is dwarfed by $80 billion in annual SNAP subsidies, a ratio of about 18 to 1.
A U.S. House bill would cut $40 billion in SNAP subsidies over the next 10 years and Flowers said charities like his would have difficulty making up the difference.
“We are a relatively small player in terms of the relative needs of hunger,” he said.
“We are a bucket brigade on a five-alarm house fire,” Flowers said. “We grow when the community supports us. I wouldn’t say we are keeping pace.”
Dave Scott can be reached at 330-996-3577 or davescott@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Scott on Twitter at Davescottofakro.