By Chris Fitzsimon
Numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday show thousands of families in North Carolina are no better off than they were seven years ago and many are having a harder time making ends meet.
Poverty, income and health-care data improved slightly from 2006 to 2007 nationally and in North Carolina, according to the annual population survey, but the poverty rate and percentage of people without health-care coverage is still significantly worse than in 2000.
The American Community Survey (ACS) found even more troubling trends: 17.2 percent of North Carolinians did not have health care in the last two years, a 2.1 percent increase. The national uninsured rate fell by a percent.
The ACS also found that 14.3 percent of people in North Carolina live in poverty and almost one in five children do.
Median annual household income was $44,760 after adjusting for inflation, roughly the same as it was seven years ago.
The national statistics were much the same. Robert Greenstein with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out that the drops in standard of living since 2001 mark the first time in history that poverty and family income are lower at the end of an economic expansion than at the beginning.
And don’t look for improvement any time soon, either nationally or in North Carolina. Greenstein points out that poverty is higher now than it was in 2007, and the economic slowdown continues.
There are plenty of things federal lawmakers can do to ease the pain, like finally passing an expansion of children’s health insurance and helping states with Medicaid costs.
State lawmakers can do things too, such as finally getting serious about eliminating the waiting list for child-care subsidies that is now 29,000 children long and investing more heavily in affordable housing and health care.
The new numbers also come amid bizarre claims by folks on the right and misinformation and half-hearted responses from politicians. One think tanker in North Carolina recently claimed that Social Security causes poverty.
Many self-proclaimed conservative candidates for the General Assembly and statewide office blame insurance mandates and the legal system for the health-care crisis, ignoring the compelling evidence that neither plays a significant role.
The talking points are designed to distract us from the crisis of 1.5 million people in the state with no health-care coverage. Many candidates who want voters to think they are progressive reject the right’s slogans, but offer few solutions of their own beyond the constant refrain that education is the solution.
Education is vital, but here’s a secret they never tell you. Living in poverty makes it harder for students to do well in school. If we want to help children, we have to help poor families lift themselves out of poverty by helping with child care and housing and other basic needs.
But don’t fret. Sure, 28 percent of the people in Robeson County live in poverty, 1.5 million people in the state have no health insurance and income inequality is on the rise. But state lawmakers are on the case.
They’ll be back in Raleigh Wednesday for a special legislation session — to help the recreational-boat industry.
Chris Fitzsimon is director of NC Policy Watch.
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