Poverty in the 16th Congressional District

Posted by Scott Summers at 4/19/2008 7:46 PM and is filed under Heartland Alliance,Poverty,"2008 Report on Illinois Poverty"
The Heartland Alliance's Mid-America Institute on Poverty has just released its “2008 Report on Illinois Poverty”.  It's highly sobering – for the midwest, for Illinois, and for the 16th Congressional District.

Here are just a few of the key findings:
  • Between 2001 and 2007, real weekly wages (adjusted for inflation) fell in seven of eleven job sectors.
  • In 70 of 102 Illinois counties, median income declined by $1547 between 2001 and 2005.
  • Seniors, children, and the disabled account for almost half of those living in extreme poverty.
  • In 2006, 12.3% of Illinoisans lived in poverty – up from 10.7% in 1999.
Five area counties are on the group's “Poverty Watch List”:  Boone, DeKalb, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago.

Page 52 of the report breaks out statistics by Congressional District.  Consider these numbers for the 16th:
  • Poverty rate, 2006:  10.2%
  • Number of people in extreme poverty, 2006:  31,041 (a 6.5% rate)
  • Children in poverty, 2006:  24,074 (a 13.2% rate)
  • Total in poverty, 2006:  72,563  (That's approximately the populations of Belvidere, Freeport, and Loves Park combined!)
Heartland's report identifies six “Pathways Out of Poverty”:  education, employment, health, housing, nutrition, and assets.

We will not succeed in our corner of the state – nor in Illinois, nor in America – unless every single citizen has a chance to succeed.  The curse of poverty on some is a curse upon us all.

Alleviation of poverty is one of my top issues.  In coming posts, I will speak on each of Heartland's six pathways.

View the report in full through this link:  http://www.heartlandalliance.org/maip

 
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