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."
Click on the link and read the article.I try to explain this to other people and even people in my own state. People who don't live here don't understand. The DHL closing is the major factor increased poverty here but it wasn't the only thing. There was such a snowballing effect after the stock market crashed as President Obama was elected.
Something like one in five houses is empty here and most of them have been stripped of any precious metal or valuables. If you want rid of something, just sit it at the curb and it's gone the next day. We don't like inviting those types of people to be looking around here.
It's hard to explain such poverty among such wealth without civil riot going on. We might be getting closer to that every day needed change doesn't come. I will say people have become the most inventive and adaptive you can imagine. Families and friends have never become closer in order for these people to live. I imagine those in this category though have less family and friends who can help them.
It's a sad thing in our state but it is true. LuAnn and I see it every day. We help wherever we can, especially to those who just need a "hand up" and not a "hand out."
Our government has so many "hand outs" that we don't need to offer those services. The people who are maxing out those benefits are making more and doing better than those who are too proud to. LuAnn is concerned about those who are too proud to do those things and that is the ones we concentrate on.
Our best charities have never been more needed over my lifetime.
Ed Winkle
Morning Ed, What do you think has been the cause of the poverty in Ohio? I am more familiar with the NW side of the state down too Columbus and for the most part the farms look prosperous. I have seen the rust belt in NE and think there is probably nothing that can be done as far as bringing back jobs or industry there . I made a long trip yesterday too Amish country in Ontario delivering a manure tanker and just amazing some of the new grain set ups and machinery in farm yards. Outside of Moncton there was a BIG grain set up and 2 large grain buggies and I thought that they must work the county and then the next farm on the right had 3
ReplyDeleteas large grain buggies and a smaller elevator . Was through the back roads of 7 different counties,300 miles and supply management of the feather and dairy have made them by far the nicest farms. But quota is only good for ones established as cow quota is $30k each and feather business is the same . A farm with a couple of hundred acres and 200 cow milk quota will be quite a bit over $10 mil. In Amish country they seem too have adapted by running little machine-welding-repair shops and every Amish farm is pretty much self sufficient.Ed have a safe harvest-kevin in Ontario
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteThere has been so many causes to Ohio poverty. Divorce, education, morals have effected all states in one way or another but New York and Ohio have similar and dissimilar rust belt problems.
Status Quo was held onto too long until we got passed up. Our best and brightest started leaving the state during my generation but it's almost a must for most, now. I think the fat cats were in charge here too long. Kasich does not seem to be one of them.
Agriculture is our bright spot and kept us from being worse but our severe poverty has little connection to the farm. Fracking is changing the poorest farms overnight. If we would have bought land in the right place, we would be multi millionaires today. It is that lucrative.
I heard in Iowa from a former Ohio farmer his neighbor and a friend of mine will have a well pumping next month. The income potential is huge.
We have a similar Amish and Mennonite thing going on all over Ohio and some have been there 40 years or more.
I can't point to any ONE cause because there are many. It would be an interesting study for sure.
Ed Winkle
I understand what you are saying. Now that we moved to Clinton County, we see firsthand this "Ohio Poverty". I was shocked to see that 50% of the people in town that go to my daughter's school are "economically disadvantaged" .. not sure if that means receiving free lunches, or on welfare, or exactly how "poor" ... but either way, lots of folks are hurting.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry, I thought you knew that. It's happened over my lifetime. It is a major challenge for the school districts I worked for.
DeleteStop by and say Hi someday!
Ed