CONTACT: Timothy Smeeding, smeeding@lafollette.wisc.edu, (608) 890-1317
MADISON, Wisconsin’s Researchers studying the economic and policy
forces that affect Wisconsin poverty released their latest results,
which show that Wisconsin gained 70,000 jobs, leading to a modest, but
statistically significant reduction in poverty as measured by the
Wisconsin Poverty Measure (WPM).
The WPM also counts benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program or SNAP (called FoodShare in Wisconsin) and
refundable tax credits, as well as accounting for work expenses and
health care costs.
The more comprehensive measure of resources and needs shows statewide
poverty overall dropped from 10.8 percent in 2014 to 9.7 percent in
2015, marking the lowest rate recorded since the WPM was introduced
nine years ago. The job gain occurred between January 2014 and
November 2015.
In more good news, study researchers at the Institute for Research on
Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found the WPM
child poverty rate also reached an all-time low, 10.0 percent, which
is more than 5 percentage points below the official poverty measure’s
rate for Wisconsin children of 15.4 percent.
Researchers attribute these declines to improvements in earnings as
most Wisconsin regional labor markets finally began recovering from
the Great Recession. The economic effects of the recovery are
reflected in the market income poverty measure, which counts only
resources from private earnings and investment income. This poverty
rate by itself fell by 1.5 percentage points from the previous year.
Other bright spots include a drop in elderly poverty from 8.3 percent
to 7.8 percent, according to the WPM.
Meanwhile, safety net benefits, especially SNAP/FoodShare and
refundable tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, played an
important role in poverty reduction. However, national and state
changes to SNAP reduced these positive effects in 2015 as compared to
previous years. In addition, rising childcare costs and other
work-related expenses also led to decreased resources for Wisconsin
families with children.
Milwaukee County (16.3 percent WPM poverty rate) and La Crosse County
(13.0 percent) were the only places with rates significantly higher
than the state average of 9.7 percent. Meanwhile, six areas have rates
that are significantly lower than the statewide rate, including the
counties of Washington/Ozaukee (4.5 percent) and Waukesha (4.7
percent); and Outagamie (Appleton), Dodge and Jefferson, Sheboygan,
and Brown counties (Green Bay), which were all at or below 7.1
percent.
Poverty rates in subcounty regions show variations that are more
dramatic within counties than across the larger county and multicounty
areas in the state, as depicted in the map. Within Milwaukee County,
for example, overall poverty rates ranged from about 10.0 percent in
southern and western subcounty areas to 37.0 percent in the central
city of Milwaukee.
At the same time, counties to the north and west of Milwaukee had
below average WPM rates. This pattern suggests a steady, but uneven
recovery of jobs and incomes across regions within the state, and the
continued serious high-poverty pocket in central Milwaukee, especially
as compared to the region surrounding it.
The analysis that led to these results was developed by Timothy
Smeeding, an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison La
Follette School of Public Affairs, and Katherine Thornton, an
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) programmer analyst, and
outlined in their ninth annual Wisconsin Poverty Report. Support for
the study from the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association
(WISCAP) and IRP is gratefully acknowledged.
IRP Director Lawrence Berger notes, “I am pleased and proud that IRP
researchers are serving the state in the spirit of the Wisconsin Idea
by providing a more meaningful assessment of poverty in state and
local areas than would otherwise be available from national
statistics. The WPM reflects the Badger State’s labor market and
safety net, revealing programs and policies that make work worthwhile
and protect our society’s most vulnerable members.”
READ THE FULL REPORT:
http://www.irp.wisc.edu/
SUMMARY: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/
