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In today’s Daily Herald there is an article titled “DuPage’s poverty rate among lowest, but Census shows struggle elsewhere.” The article cites and quotes social service organization outside of DuPage to show problems of poverty in the Chicagoland area (Cook and Lake Counties). The only substantive mention of “DuPage” is a Daily Herald bullet point from the U.S. Census Bureau’s study of poverty in 2004, saying,

“Among counties with populations of 250,000 or more, DuPage and McHenry tied for the fifth lowest poverty rate nationwide, at 3.8 percent.”

It’s a pity that Marni Pike’s admirable Daily Herald series on DuPage poverty wasn’t referenced. There we saw that “[s]ince 2000, the [DuPage] county poverty rate has more than doubled,” a number translating into 48,827 in 2003 and even more people today. In 2000 the DuPage poverty rate was 3.6% - in today’s article the 2004 rate is celebrated as among the lowest in the nation at 3.8%.

But understanding the real problem requires understanding the definition of poverty, because it is the definition of poverty that hampers understanding of how many people aren’t making it (and why local social service agencies like Loaves and Fishes, the People’s Resource Center and others have almost run out of food for those in need the last few years). The U.S. Census Bureau financial definition of poverty is woefully inadequate for most areas of the country - and even more so for places like DuPage County, where the cost of living is much higher than most of the United States in areas like housing. Can anyone seriously imagine a family of two parents and two children making it in DuPage last year on an income of $19,158 before taxes? Actually, if they could make it, that wouldn’t be a poverty success story. Why? Well, $19,158 is a dollar more than the federal threshold for poverty for a family in 2004 - which shows how absurd the threshold is - especially for DuPage. Let’s look at a few basic living expenses this family living above poverty in DuPage encounters on their $1,596.50 a month before taxes:

Housing

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, “fair market” rent for a two-bedroom apartment in DuPage is $906 - or a whopping 57% of pre-tax income for this family making a dollar over poverty, leaving only $690.50 a month (again this is all before taxes). The 57% figure is almost double the recommended 30% of income figure commonly used to budget “affordable” housing.

Transportation

One reason I believe we need better public transportation in DuPage is that limited public transportation options mean you need either your own vehicle or a taxi for basic requirements like getting to work and buying food. Car payments, insurance and gas approaching $3 a gallon add up - just like using a taxi with any frequency. While expenses vary, it’s easy to imagine spending $300 a month or more either way - even if you’re skimping. That takes quite a bite out of the $690.50 in pre-tax dollars. We’re now down to $390.50.

Food, Clothing and Healthcare

We now have less than $100 a week before taxes for a family of four to cover these three basic expenses - and any others that they might have. Even a minor health problem can become a major financial crisis. Travel costs to a free medical clinic could become the tipping point.

What It Takes To “Make It”

Despite the frequent perception that “poverty” measures whether people can “make it” or not financially, the U.S. Census Bureau does say that the poverty thresholds “are intended for use as a statistical yardstick, not as a complete description of what people and families need to live.” In other words, rising above poverty doesn’t mean you have what you “need to live” - a useful reminder illustrated above.

So, what is the amount that people actually need to live in DuPage County? The DuPage Federation on Human Services Reform provides a standard of “self-sufficiency” - the amount one would need to earn so that no other support was necessary. Their poverty report data from 2001 (pdf), showed that a family of two parents and two children (one preschool and one of school age) then needed each parent to earn $11.69 an hour in full-time work - the annual equivalent of $53,700. That, of course, was four years ago and every major category of expense, from housing to healthcare, from transportation to food has gone up in cost - some quite dramatically.

Solutions And A Concluding Thought

What can we do to improve the situation? I’ve made one suggestion - make sure we maximize federal dollars, and our own dollars, to reward work while alleviating poverty. Additionally, DuPage County needs to attract businesses with higher wage jobs - it will improve our tax base at the same time that it improves the lives of our residents.

Poverty isn’t an easy problem to tackle - although we need to do more and try harder. Our best efforts, including the efforts of so many in our community who selflessly donate their time and money to help those less fortunate, aren’t helped if people don’t understand the scope of the situation and aren’t given better information and a decent perspective. Surely those in need deserve at least that much consideration.

[Interested readers looking for a national perspective should take a look at today’s New York Times article, “U.S. Poverty Rate Was Up Last Year,” which has a number important facts, including the fact that it is “the first time on record that household incomes failed to increase for five straight years” and “[m]edian pretax income, $44,389, was at its lowest point since 1997, after inflation” last year.]