Groups say too many Rhode Islanders still struggling

PROVIDENCE – Too many Rhode Islanders are still struggling even as the economy continues to rebound, according to a joint press release from the Coalition on Human Needs and Community Action Partnership of Providence.

The groups pointed to data released in September by the U.S. Census Bureau showing that “poverty remains stubbornly and unacceptably high” with “too many Americans are struggling to find a job, pay their rent and feed their families.”

“We are clearly not doing enough as a country to make progress on reducing poverty. Our safety net programs are effective in keeping millions of people out of poverty and in keeping many from becoming more deeply poor. But they do not reach everyone in poverty, and recent cuts to these programs have left them less able to help the number of people who need it. Further automatic funding cuts or wrongheaded budget proposals, as well as plans that claim to fight poverty by turning social service programs into block grants, would actually increase poverty and only make the situation worse,” they wrote in a press release.

Census Bureau data released last month showed that in Rhode Island, 14.3 percent of people were poor in 2013 – an increase from 2009 when 11.5 percent were poor. That means living on an income of less than $23,834 for a family of four. Nationwide, 15.8 percent of people were poor.

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In Rhode Island and also nationwide, one out of four people who have not finished high school is poor.

In Rhode Island, more than one out of five children overall, as well as more than one out of three African American children and one out of two Hispanic children, are growing up in poverty.
Previous studies have shown that children who grow up poor are more likely to suffer from poor health, developmental delays, behavioral problems and lower academic achievement. They are also more likely to be unemployed as adults.

Other findings for Rhode Island:

  • 42.9 percent of tenants are paying 35 percent or more of their income on rent, similar to national rates
  • In states that implemented the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, as Rhode Island did, the uninsured rate dropped 37.7 percent. In Rhode Island, 120,460 people remained uninsured in 2013

The groups cited problems such as 2013 federal sequester cuts, which resulted in 450 fewer children in Head Start, as well as $339,000 in cuts to the Child Care and Development Block Grant and $2.2 million in cuts to Special Education Grants in Rhode Island alone.

Additionally, sequestration cuts caused the loss of 70,000 housing vouchers in 2013, which left 386 fewer households in Rhode Island with this assistance, the release stated.

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