Press Releases

Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources Hearing

Today, Chairman Smith and I (Ranking Member) held a hearing on the “Geography of Poverty.”

We know poverty is a serious problem in rural, urban, and suburban communities. No matter where you live, a good job is the most efficient way out of poverty. To get and keep good jobs, many workers need better opportunities to upgrade their skills and basic supports, like child care and health care.

In 2015, 43 million Americans, including 14.5 million children, lived in poverty. We have made significant progress to reduce poverty since the Great Recession – the poverty rate declined significantly last year for almost all demographic groups. However, income is still lower, and poverty higher, than it was in 2007, before the recession. Despite declines between 2014 and 2015, poverty rates are much higher for African-Americans (24%) and Latinos (21%). Poverty rates are also much higher for non-citizens (including both documented and undocumented immigrants) – 21% in 2015.

There is considerable regional variation, but nationally, rural areas have both lower median income and also lower poverty (less dramatic income inequality). Thirteen percent of rural Americans are below the federal poverty line, as compared to 16 percent of urban Americans. However, both poverty and unemployment are higher in counties that the Census Bureau classifies as “completely rural” than those considered “mostly rural.” Poverty rates for people of color are similar whether individuals live in rural or urban areas, but poverty rates for white Americans are higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

There is also some geographic variation -

• Poverty rates are significantly higher in urban areas than in rural areas in the Northeast and Midwest.
• There is a much smaller difference in the West.
• There is only a slight difference between urban and rural poverty rates in the South (where overall poverty rates are much higher).

In part because of the foreclosure crisis, suburbs have seen the fastest poverty growth in recent years, and where the largest numbers of poor Americans live. The Brookings Institute estimates that about 16.4 million Americans in poverty live in the suburbs, as compared to 13.4 million in big cities and 7.3 million in rural areas (number does not add up to 43 million because many people live in areas that don’t fit neatly into those three categories). Between 2000 and 2012, the number of suburban poor living in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty grew by 139%, and almost half of high-poverty census tracts are in the suburbs. We will be looking ways to move Americans out of poverty via Federal programs at our disposal.

Today we have testimony from:

William Leavy, Executive Director, Greater West Town Project (Chicago). Mr. Leavy will talk about urban poverty, and how GWTP works to improve economic opportunities and reduce poverty for hard-to-employ people from poor Chicago neighborhoods.

Elizabeth Kneebone, Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution. Dr. Kneebone is the co-author of Confronting Suburban Poverty in America, which details the rapid growth of poverty in the suburbs, and has advocated an evidence-based policy approach.

Mark Partridge, Professor, Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy, Ohio State University. Dr. Partridge is a specialist in regional science whose recent work has focused on income inequality and how economic shocks affect local communities. He also may talk about his recent research about urban and rural economic interdependence.

Tammy Slater, CEO, Goodwill Industries of Greater Nebraska. Ms. Slater will talk about rural poverty in central and western Nebraska and the donor-funded services Goodwill provides, including job training, paid work, behavioral health and disability services, and housing assistance.