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Poverty now engulfs even high school graduates

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 3, 2008 at 2:51 p.m.
Updated September 3, 2008 at 2:51 p.m.

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New poverty data highlights the truism that in 2008 in Colorado, a high school education isn't enough to lift parents and children out of a low-income life.

The study by the National Center for Children in Poverty finds that Colorado parents without any college education are more likely than not to raise their kids in near poverty.

Years ago, it was assumed that high school dropouts were destined for a low-income lifestyle. But the new report finds that a high school diploma alone likely isn't enough anymore for parents to keep their kids away from poverty's clutches.

Th report found that 85 percent of Colorado children whose parents don't have a high school degree live in households where the income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

And if the parents have a high school degree, but no college, 54 percent of those kids are at that level or lower.

Just 20 percent of Colorado kids whose parents have at least some college experience live in poverty.

While some reports focus on families living below the poverty level, increasingly researchers point to 200% percent of poverty level as a more useful tool for determining the threshold at which households have enough money to begin to climb out of the hole of want.

A family of four living on $42,000 a year is at 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

The NCCP report found that about two-thirds of Colorado children living in low-income families have at least one parent working full time. About 91 percent of children in households that aren't low-income have at least one parent working full-time.

A report out Tuesday from First Focus, using U.S. Census Bureau numbers, found a slight decrease in the poverty rate among Colorado's children last year -- about one in eight is in poverty.

That runs counter to a report in June that Colorado led the nation in the percentage increase in the number of kids in poverty from 2000 to 2006.

Megan Ferland, president of the Colorado Children's Campaign, said today that her group relies on the American Community Survey and has found that the child poverty rate did rise in the early years of the decade, but didn't drop between 2006 and 2007.

"The bottom line is that by either measure, we have a lot of kids in poverty," Ferland said. "We don't have any comfort level there is actually a true siginficant decrease happening."

Ferland said factors leading to poverty range from an economy in malaise to the cycle of young women giving birth before they finish high school and before they are married.

She said Colorado ranks near the bottom in per capita state spending on programs that help children and families.

Efforts that focus on early child care and early education "are a huge step in the right direction," she said.

"We are seeing the most dramatic impact on the youngest kids," both in that they are most likely to be in poverty, and they are most likely to benefit from interventions, she said.

"There are a lot of itty bitty kids living in poverty, which is disastrous for them in the long term."

A wise investment of public monies is in programs to allow single parents to get back into the work force and to ready low-income kids to be on an equal footing with other students when they enter school, Ferland said.

"Investments in health care, an expansion of the Children's Health Plan, Medicaid, anything to help kids stay healthy is a long-term positive gain," Ferland said.

"We have a ways to go."

Comments

  • September 3, 2008

    3:03 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    gary writes:

    A report out Tuesday from First Focus, using U.S. Census Bureau numbers, found a slight decrease in the poverty rate among Colorado's children last year -- about one in eight is in poverty.

    So, Mr. Scanlon
    A slight decrease and you are complaining??

    Nuff Said!

  • September 3, 2008

    3:10 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    303Geno writes:

    "Th report found that 85 percent of Colorado children whose parents don't have a high school degree live in households where the income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level."

    The RMN must have ran out of "e"s. These numbers are astounding. I remember growing up when 340% of the federal poverty level was acceptable. Not anymore. You could squeak by on 425% of the poverty level if you stuck to a budget.

    If there is a lesson here for today's youth (and editors) it is to check your facts, and don't be afraid to give 563% of your effort to 722% of the task at hand. No one appreciates a slacker(e)

  • September 3, 2008

    3:34 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    BigSky182 writes:

    So keep raising minimum wage. The higher minimum wage goes, the more it costs businesses to produce goods and services, so the more the businesses will have to charge for those goods and services.

    We have already seen a shift in the Denver Metro area where eating out, even in nice restaraunts has become more expensive and the service has gotten steadily worse. The same applies to EVERY business out there. Food is just the most obvious place. It starts at the bottom end and works its way up and through everything. When it costs more to produce stuff, it soon costs more to buy stuff. Basic economics.

    Think it over: If you are an employer who had to give ALL of your employees a pay increase AND your product supply has started to cost more, you have to cut back somewhere. You very quickly realize that experienced workers cost more than those who are just starting out. So pretty quick, we see fewer jobs, less quality food, smaller portions, poorer service, and higher prices. Which leads to poor customer satisfaction which leads to lower sales... so the boss has to cut back again and the cycle repeats. Higher prices increases the overall cost of living, which in turn raises the minimum wage again.... and the cycle repeats again.

    Then, Heaven forbid, the Boss realizes that he can hire people illegally for MUCH less money.

    We continue to raise our minimum wage, pushing small start up businesses OUT of business... then we get all offended when they can no longer afford to hire legal workers and pay them a legal wage.

    We are doing this to ourselves folks... and we need to wake up.

  • September 3, 2008

    4:11 p.m.

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    Elwood writes:

    Don't worry, Obama will fix everything so we all are at the 200% poverty level, not just 85%.

  • September 3, 2008

    4:14 p.m.

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    mytwosense writes:

    So, according to BigSky, people are poor because poor people are paid too much.

    By the way, the last time the minimum wage was increased was the first time it had been in a decade. You people are so out of touch...

  • September 3, 2008

    4:21 p.m.

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    BigSky182 writes:

    No people are poor because people are stupid with how they spend their money.

    Minimum wage was never intended to support a Family of Four. Minimum wage was intended as an ENTRY point into the workforce from which motivated, intelligent people could build a useful career.

    I have said it over and over again:

    What you make is not nearly as important as what you spend. A Man and a Woman who are making a COMBINED income UNDER $42,000 should really think long and hard before having 2 children and becoming a family of four, don't you think?

    The ONLY thing that raising minimum wage ever accomplishes is raising the cost of living for everyone.

  • September 3, 2008

    4:31 p.m.

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    Homer_J writes:

    Why does the media feel it is their responsibility to make everyone feel like a victim?

  • September 3, 2008

    4:59 p.m.

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    mytwosense writes:

    BigSky182 writes: "No people are poor because people are stupid with how they spend their money."

    So, we can correlate intelligence levels to how much money someone has? Interesting. According to the Federal Reserve Consumer Finances report, 10% of this country's population owns 70% of the net wealth.

    I guess the remaining 90% of us just aren't that bright.

  • September 3, 2008

    5:04 p.m.

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    Bigdan writes:

    BigSky182--

    Maybe you should change your name to "Let them eat cake". Food prices are going up because costs for fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides (all petroleum-based) are going up. This is dependent on inflation and the impact of peak oil, both problems which can be laid at the feet of Republican "borrow and spend" policies and their various economic "bubbles" (credit, stock, real estate) bursting, but most importantly their stubborn refusal to deal with the energy crisis which Jimmy Carter warned us more than thirty years ago would eventually bring us down-- yet was laughed out of office in favor of Reagan who told people they could "have their cake and eat it too"-- thus producing 'intellects' like you.

    You are a prime example of one side of the Republican Party base-- an arrogant rich person used to eating out at expensive restaurants with little real-world economic knowledge, who feels he has an entitlement to cheap food and "service". The other, more numerous wing of that party's base-- the anti-evolution, global climate change denying, social values voter-- is so poorly informed as to hardly qualify as 'educated' at all. As they fall more deeply into poverty themselves, people like BigSky182 are forced into greater and greater levels of mental gymnastics to convince them that it is not his way of making a living involving speculation, usury, and the de-regulation of greed (the love of money is the root of ALL evil, for you 'social values voters'), and the billions of dollars in CEO salaries and obscene, virtually untaxed corporate profit margins which are causing the economic disasters they are facing, but rather the fault of a few dimes more per hour in their own, hard-working hands. After all, they say you're just a bunch of "whiners", and these economic problems are all just "in your heads".

    My, my, my. Aren't the Emperor's New Clothes beautiful?

  • September 3, 2008

    5:11 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    blacksho89 writes:

    Only in America do the poor have cable tv only in the living room.
    Only in America do the poor face the crippling health problem of obesity.

    There are two ways to be rich, folks: Have more, or desire less.

    And then there will be more available for the TRULY poor.

  • September 3, 2008

    5:32 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mytwosense writes:

    blacksho89 writes: "Only in America do the poor have cable tv only in the living room. Only in America do the poor face the crippling health problem of obesity."

    More myths about the poor. Have you ever been around truly poor people in this country? I have. I'm from the South, and I've seen too many children who were painfully thin, with dirty rags for clothes.

    They're here in this country, friend. Just not visible in the tidy, sanitary society you inhabit. I don't begrudge you that, but rather, am reminding you it's easy to be dismissive of a group of people you have no familiarity with.

  • September 3, 2008

    5:44 p.m.

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    joggle writes:

    A high school diploma isn't worth what it was 30-40 years ago. Frankly, kids graduating now with a diploma aren't as competent as the previous generation, generally speaking. Why? Your call. I think there are a lot of reasons, from family life to social pressures to, perversely, a greater need for diplomas for fiscal reasons for schools (so schools are strongly encouraged to get graduates out the door whether they deserve the diploma or not).

  • September 3, 2008

    5:53 p.m.

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    mytwosense writes:

    joggle, there is amazing social pressure to receive a college degree. Fact is, there used to be a well-paid, highly skilled working class in this country, and they didn't need college degrees to provide better for their families.

    A group that, thanks to globalization and the decimation of unions, is fast shrinking. To be fair, advances in technology automation have also contributed to this.

    But back to college degrees. It is very hard for your average person to move up the corporate ladder without one. I happen to have a cousin who managed to do so, but she's a rare example.

    The best way to succeed without a degree is to strike out on your own and become an entrepreneur. If we want to really do our kids a favor, we should incorporate more elements into education that at least introduces them to this concept. Rather than instill in them they need to work for someone else in order to get anywhere. There's no such thing as job security anymore, anyway.

  • September 3, 2008

    5:54 p.m.

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    LiverDude writes:

    Whoa. Let me get this straight: if I don't get an education I will be condemned to live in poverty? And if I come from a family of uneducated folks I might grow up in poverty? And if I get pregnant before I finish school I might end up impoverished? Holy cow!! That's it folks--I'm going to finish the third grade even if it takes me forever to do so. I wonder how much this study cost? I'm sure glad we increased the body of knowledge with this stuff. Who would have thunk that staying stupid wouldn't pay well? Man, this changes everything. OMG. If you were stupid enough not to know this you're part of the problem.

  • September 3, 2008

    7:22 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    303Geno writes:

    This is simple economics people. When I was a Super Senior (2 years a senior)at Manual High School, we discussed the Industrial Revolution.

    It was only after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Germans did we truly place a value on reading, and the Dewey Decimal system. So go ahead and tell me that I am predestined for poverty because I am 200 % below the Federal poverty line. With my Emily Griffith Cosmotology certificate of attendance I will work 320% harder than any college degreed prisoner, and as we know, 320% of 200% below is exactly HALF! Take THAT Russia!

  • September 4, 2008

    8:56 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    BigSky182 writes:

    Many of you need to learn to read better. I did not say Poor people are stupid... I said they "are stupid with how they spend their money".

    And I will stand by that till the day I die. I am not "rich". I am smart with my money. Or, more accurately, my Wife is smart with our money. I myself couldn't balance the household budget to save my own life. But I was smart enough to know that I am no good with money, so I married a Woman who is.

    I grew up well below the poverty line. The fact that all 6 of my parents (it's a VERY long story, use your imagination) made plenty of money had no bearing on the fact that 12 kids went without more often than not. We wore second hand clothes, were on medicaid, food stamps, you name it. I stood with my Father in line waiting for government cheese and peanut butter on Saturdays. I know perfectly well what life in the gutter is all about.

    Then I left home and learned that that isn't the way MOST people live. We make choices everyday. Those choices rule our lives whether we are ready to admit it or not.

    I challenge anyone who is unhappy with their economic status to take a good hard look at what they spend.