[Kentucky] State has slight dip in child poverty

from The Courier Journal

Too many still can't make ends meet

By Marcus Green
magreen@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Fewer poor children lived in Kentucky last year, the first drop in childhood poverty in three years, according to new U.S. Census estimates.

But the data still paint a grim picture of the state's young and destitute: More than one in five Kentucky children live in poverty, exceeding the national average of 18.5 percent.

Roughly 216,000 children in Kentucky lived below the federal poverty line last year, giving the state the 11th-highest rate in the United States.

For a family of four last year, the poverty line was $19,971, the census bureau reported.

"There's a lot of economic struggle among low- and middle-income families in the commonwealth," said James Ziliak, director of the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research.

"I think that's largely driven by some changes in the economic structure in the commonwealth -- the departure of good-paying manufacturing jobs and the replacement of those jobs with lower-paying, service-related-type jobs."

As a result, some families with low wages are juggling finances to afford child care, rent and groceries. It's a balancing act that forced Katie Pugh of Louisville, a divorced mother of four, to give up phone service.

"Although a phone is important, you know, the water and the electric and the rent take precedence over it," said Pugh, a 24-year-old part-time cashier at an auto-parts store who makes less than $900 a month.

Pugh has no health insurance, although her sons are covered under the state's program for low-income children.

She's one of an estimated 92,000 people living in poverty in Louisville, according to the latest census data.

The census figures provide a four-year snapshot of income and poverty since the United States emerged from the 2001 recession. Over that time, the earnings of Kentucky households failed to keep up with inflation, and the number and rate of poor children increased.

Louisville's child poverty rate of 19.2 percent was slightly higher than the national average.

In Indiana, the child poverty rate rose to nearly 17 percent from 15 percent in 2004. Beryl Cohen, program manager for the nonprofit Indiana Institute for Working Families, said the state has been particularly hard hit with losses in high-paying manufacturing jobs.

"While jobs are starting to come up again, it's in lower-paying, low-wage jobs," Cohen said.

The consequences of childhood poverty often extend to adulthood and beyond. Children who grow up poor are more likely to drop out of school, become teen parents and become unemployed as adults, according to Kentucky Youth Advocates.

Nancy Cauthen, deputy director of the New York-based National Center for Children in Poverty, said ongoing research has debunked myths about poor families. One such myth: Children living in poverty have parents who don't work.

"Nationally, at least two-thirds of children living in poverty have at least one parent who is employed," Cauthen said.
Overall, state falls behind

In 1999, the percentage of Kentuckians living in poverty stood at 12.1 percent -- virtually matching the national average.

But, since then, the difference between the state and federal poverty rates has widened.

"Low-income families really benefited from the boom of the late 1990s, both nationally and definitely in the commonwealth, and so these families have been struggling since the onset of the recession," Ziliak said.

From 2002 to 2005, the earning power of Kentucky households stagnated. The state's median household income last year, $37,369, was actually lower than the comparable, inflation-adjusted income in 2002 of $37,964.

Families below the poverty line often worry about simply making ends meet.

Last year, Jennifer Rice held a job as an airbrush artist and worked at a booth at a Shelby County flea market.

"I couldn't get to that point where I had enough money," said Rice, a 23-year-old single mother with an 11-month-old son.

She now works a $10-per-hour job as an airbrush artist, logging as many as 35 hours in a good week. She is considering going back to college in hopes of making more money.
Push to raise wages

The recent census statistics were released shortly before Kentucky Senate Democrats prefiled a bill that would raise the state's minimum wage.

Kentucky now adheres to the federal rate of $5.15 an hour, but the bill would increase the minimum wage to $7.25 by 2009.

Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, said a higher minimum wage is one way to fight childhood poverty and pledged his group's support of the measure.

"There's a mythology that minimum wage is for teenagers who are working at McDonald's to buy a new iPod -- and that's simply not the case," Brooks said.

State Rep. Joni Jenkins, a Shively Democrat who plans to file a similar minimum wage bill next week, said the current pay rate has not kept up with inflation.

In states that have enacted minimum wage changes, Jenkins said, "it's a plus not only for the workers, but also for the local economy."

But Jim Waters, spokesman for the Bluegrass Institute political think tank, said raising the minimum wage won't help young workers, for example, who might not be hired if employers must pay higher wages.

He also cited research that shows that employees who prove themselves "will not stay at minimum wage."

Reporter Marcus Green can be reached at (502) 582-4675.