Mississippi poverty rates continue to rise

from The Reflector

State's poverty levels increasing due to general low education level
Dan Malone

The poverty rate in Mississippi is still on the rise, according to a census released last week.

While national poverty rates are declining, Mississippi's rate is up from 19.9 percent in 1999 to 21.1 percent. Mississippi has led the nation in poverty for several years.

The Mississippi Economic Policy Center released a report in April that showed almost 130,000, or 39 percent, of Mississippi's working families live in low-income households. The report also indicates that 35 percent of the state's jobs are low-wage occupations.

It is a centuries-old problem that has proven to be a continuing trend for the state, said Charles Campbell, an MSU finance and economics professor.

Campbell said he agrees with many who say Mississippi's biggest problem surrounding poverty is the generally low education level of the state's impoverished.

"The key is education," Campbell said. "Too many people do not have a stake in the community because they have few skills and no education."

He said he believes the separation of quality education between black and white communities has to do with the private school system.

"In Mississippi public school systems you have what's called the tipping point, which is the percentage of schools that become populated with [an African-American majority,]" Campbell said. "This point is when whites flee and attend private schools. When that happens, all of the money is taken out of the school system and there becomes little incentive to change that."

A disconnect has occurred between the majority of Mississippi citizens and the educational system, he said.

"Unfortunately a lot of people do not want to see any kind of tax increase in this state. They do not see money for education as an investment in their community," he said.

An infusion of money and people along with an emphasis on local, high quality educational programs are the way to turn the problem around, Campbell said.

According to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has approved millions of dollars for work force training programs at the state's junior colleges over the last three years. Barbour also said he has plans to reform the state's tax system in hopes of lowering taxes for low-income families.

Arthur Cosby, director of the Social Science Research Center at MSU, believes that an increase of Hispanic labor along the coast also attributes to the rising poverty rate.

Rebuilding projects along the coast have brought an influx of low-income Hispanic families to Mississippi, he said.

"The economy in Mississippi is pretty good. We have a lot of money coming in from insurance and the slate is clean in terms of economic activity," Cosby said. "A lot of low-income families will go where the work is and Katrina has brought a great deal of work to Mississippi."

MSU students view Mississippi's rising poverty rate as a familiar.

MSU sophomore and political science major Christen Brooks said, "I think Katrina could be a cause of the rising poverty rate. When you have something like that happen, a lot of people went homeless, and poverty is influence by homelessness."

Junior political science major Maia Miller said Mississippi unfortunately has a stereotype of being low on the education pole.

"Even though there are other states that are lower in education, Mississippi's poverty rate is not a single issue," she said. "With low education you get other problems like teen pregnancy, poverty in Mississippi is not a single issue."