A human rights organization released a report today which found that "poverty increased in 74 of Illinois' 102 counties" between 2000 and 2006 and now "afflicts more than 1.5 million Illinoisans," a 19 percent increase during this period. The news is particularly bad for residents of the Chicago suburbs. According to the Heartland Alliance study, the median income of residents in the collar counties has steadily declined:
Between 2000 and 2006, median annual household income declined by $4,877 in Cook County; $8,470 in DuPage; $8,077 in Kane; $5,871 in Lake; $6,498 in McHenry; and $2,495 in Will. During the same period, prices of vital household necessities escalated exponentially: food costs increased by 15.4 percent, medical care by 31.2 percent, energy by 60 percent and gasoline by 92.7 percent. This trend is likely to continue: One-third of all jobs in Northeastern Illinois, (the Chicago region as well as Grundy, Kendall, and Kankakee Counties) are low-wage service jobs.
The findings also highlight the plight of the working poor. According to the study, 210,000 people who have a job in the area still live below the poverty line. Adding to their burden is Illinois' regressive income tax system:
When both state and local taxes are taken into account, Illinois’ poor families have an effective tax rate of 13.7 percent – nearly triple the share (5.1 percent) assessed on the top 1 percent of households in the state.
But as the map below shows, the problems are not isolated to the Chicago area. Amy Rynell, Director of the Mid-American Institute on Poverty for the Alliance, says they require statewide solutions, starting with the Illinois tax code.
(More after the jump ...)
"One thing that would tremendously help the growing number of people working in low income work would be to expand our state Earned Income Tax Credit," Rynell told me in an interview today. "Illinois has one of the most unfair tax systems in the country [...] In our current Earned Income Tax Credit, the average family is getting about $100, our absolute maximum is about $235." Rynell added, "We really can and should do better than that," noting that the maximum credit available through Wisconsin's program is $2,000.
One major contributor to the spread of poverty is the combination of rising living costs and stagnant or declining wages. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of housing. The study concludes that over 25 percent of Illinois renter households are spending more than half their income on housing. This represents "an increase of 42.2% since 1999."
Rynell says the capital construction project currently being debated by lawmakers could help correct this trend, if it includes money "set aside for affordable housing."
"We know that 75 percent of people in Illinois who are eligible for federal housing assistance are not receiving it," she continued. "So we just don’t have enough avenues in Illinois to make housing affordable for people making low wages."
Other reforms being advocated by the group include the creation of a state anti-poverty commission and an increase in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a program that has not seen a funding boost since 2002.
Post new comment