Poverty by the Numbers New York State

from The Ithaca Journal

Living wage

Living wage in Tompkins County is $9.18 an hour or $19,102 a year, according to Alternatives Federal Credit Union. Only 37 of the 2,321 employers in the county are certified as living wage employers.

Minimum wage
The New York minimum wage increased from $6.75 to $7.15 an hour in January. If a New York employee earned minimum wage and worked 40 hours a week for an entire year without any unpaid holidays or vacation days, he or she would be paid $14,872. The federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour.

Tompkins trend

The poverty trend in Tompkins County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates:

11,834 at 13.5 percent in 2004

11,406 at 13 percent in 2003

11,249 at 12.6 percent in 2002

10,980 at 12.5 percent in 2001

10,350 at 12 percent in 2000 (Distinguishing this from the full Census data)

9,977 at 11.7 percent in 1999

11,412 at 13.1 percent in 1998

11,884 at 13.7 percent in 1997

Neighboring counties

Neighboring county data on poverty for 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates:

6,193 at 13.6 percent in Cortland County

9,094 at 11.7 percent in Cayuga County

3,690 at 11.4 percent in Seneca County

4,842 at 9.4 percent in Tioga County

Facts and figures

* The U.S. government measures poverty using the cost of food based on a diet model created in the 1960s. Each year the government accounts for inflation associated with food cost and changes the poverty threshold, but how poverty is measured has not changed since the 1960s despite drastic changes in the everyday financial lives of Americans.

* Of the 5,621 students enrolled in the Ithaca City School District, 1,753 are on free or reduced lunch plans. That's 31 percent of the district.

* 35 percent of households in Tompkins County have incomes less than $25,000, and one quarter of the population makes less than $20,000 a year.

* Nearly 1 out of every 3 households in Tompkins County has housing affordability problems, according to the Tompkins County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment.

* More than 500 households in Tompkins County use more than half of their income on housing, according to the Tompkins County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment.

* More than 10,000 households, or 40 percent in Tompkins County, use more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to the Tompkins County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment.

* One in 8 children in Tompkins County lives in poverty, according to Tompkins Community Action.

The following organizations have ties to many of the operations in Tompkins County that aim to help residents with a wide spectrum of needs, including those related to the challenges of living on a limited income:

# American Red Cross Friendship Center

www.tompkins-redcross.org/frame_center_friendship.htm

618 W. State St., Ithaca

273-6684

# Catholic Charities of Tompkins/Tioga County

324 W. Buffalo St., Ithaca

272-5062

# Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County, Inc.

www.hsctc.org

100 W. Seneca St., Suite 300, Ithaca

273-8686

# Tompkins Community Action

www.tcaction.org

701 Spencer Road, Ithaca

273-8816