Edith Starzyk, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The recession’s toll on the nation and Ohio comes across loud and clear in new data released Thursday by U.S. Census Bureau.
The number of people across the country without health insurance topped 50 million for the first time since 1987, when the bureau started counting them.
And the poverty rate nationwide jumped from 13.2 percent (or 39.8 million people) in 2008 to 14.3 percent (or 43.6 million people) last year, the highest it’s been in 15 years.
Ohio’s poverty rate appeared to hold steady during that one-year period. But more will be known later this month when the Census Bureau releases more detailed data by city.
In the meantime, the bureau says a two-year average is the most reliable gauge of how the state is weathering the downturn that officially began in December 2007.
Between 2006-2007 and 2008-09, when the full grip of the recession was felt:
•The percentage of Ohioans living in poverty rose from 12.5 to 13.5, which was close to the national average.
•The percentage of Ohioans without insurance rose from 10.9 to 12.9, but still was better than the national average of 16 percent.
•The median household income of Ohioans fell from $49,811 to $46,318, which was lower than the national median of $49,945. The 7 percent slide in Ohio also was steeper than the 3 percent drop nationally.
The rise in poverty isn’t a surprise to Claudia Coulton, co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change at Case Western Reserve University.
“We are feeling it and will continue to feel it for awhile because this is a deep and long recession,” she said.
“My big concern is that children are being hit the hardest, with 21 percent in poverty compared to about 16 percent in 2000. They are the most vulnerable because their brains and bodies are still developing.“
In contrast, the poverty rate for senior citizens fell slightly to just under 9 percent nationwide, probably thanks to Social Security benefits.
The tough economy is bringing together people of all ages to share housing, resulting in 1.6 million more multi-family households nationwide.
There was an 8.4 percent leap in the number of young adults, ages 25 to 34, living with their parents. If they were on their own, 43 percent of them would be in poverty.
In other cases, public and private programs are helping to keep families afloat.
In Cuyahoga County, the number of households receiving some form of public assistance has hit 160,000 and continues to grow by about 1,000 per month, said Joseph Gauntner, director of the Employment and Family Services agency.
Two out of every 10 county residents — including four of every 10 children — receives government-subsidized health insurance and 20 percent are on food stamps.
A broader geographic measure comes from the Cleveland Foodbank, which serves Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Astabula, Ashland and Richland counties.
The agency is on track to distribute more than 32 million pounds of food in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, an increase of 50 percent from two years ago.
Story Compliments Of The Plain Dealer
