Changing Population

What is This Indicator?

Number of people living at or below the federal poverty level.
(US Census, 2005-2007, American Community Survey, 2005-2007)

Census data indicate the number of people living below the poverty has not increased significantly.  This indicator has no data about the impact of the current recession.

The Federal Poverty Level is the threshold below which families or individuals are considered to be "lacking the resources to meet the basic needs for healthy living; having insufficient income to provide the food, shelter and clothing needed to preserve health."

Why is it Important?

This is used as an indicator of the number of people living in poverty in the U.S.  The federal government uses this to determine eligibility for many assistance programs.  Often, eligibility is set at multiples of the poverty level (i.e., 125%, 150%, etc.).

Most recognize this absolute measure of poverty is imperfect, and use other indicators to more accurately define poverty. Also, because this data is from 2007, it does not capture the number of people who have lost jobs as a result of the recession.

Age

In April 2009, the Vermont Child Poverty Council released its report Improving the Odds which identifies strategies for accomplishing its mission of cutting childhood poverty in half by 2017.

The indicator does also not capture the financial challenges of college graduates who may be leaving Vermont. While many debate if and why these young Vermonters are leaving, all agree they face daunting challenges landing their first job amid high unemplyment due to the recession.

Gender

Women have long earned less than men.  This indicator does show a higher percentage of women living in poverty in Chittenden County.  Census shows they earn, on average, less than men.  The following chart shows the U.S. wage gap in different nationalities.

Race & Nationality

The indicator does confirm a large proportion of African Americans, Hispanic and Multi-Race individuals live in poverty in Chittenden County.  Of the Burlington School District students receiving free or reduced lunch, more than 1/3 are immigrants.  Not reflected in this data is the recent arrival of Africans from countries such as Somalia, Bhutan and Congo.  These new Americans have gone from repression to recession. 

What is a Livable Wage?

The Vermont Basic Needs Budget and Livable Wage is defined in statute as the hourly wage required for a full-time worker to pay for one-half of the basic needs budget for a two-person household with no children and employer-assisted health insurance. 

Basic needs budgets include the costs for essential items such as food, housing, transportation, child care, clothing and household expenses, telecommunications charges, health and dental care, renter’s insurance, life insurance, and savings. The table below shows how wages needed for this budget differ based on family size for an urban area like Chittenden County.  

To better define living costs and necessary income for seniors, AARP Vermont has established the Vermont Elder Economic Security Standard (VEESS).  The graph below compares this more realistic standard of living with other benchmarks, including the Federal Poverty Level.

Emergency Needs and the Recession

One important indicator of Vermonters' ability to pay for basic needs, especially in the current recession, is the number of calls received by Vermont 211 for food, fuel and housing.  As a key participant in the Vermont Fuel and Food Partnership, Vermont 211 responds to to these calls and refers callers to appropriate assistance programs.  The graph below shows requests as of July 2009, meaning calls from Chittenden County this year are projected to be double the amount from last year.

What is This Indicator?

Percentage of people paying more than 30% of household income on housing.
(US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2005-2007)

The percentage of people who spend more than 30% of thie household income is increasing.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines 30% of gross income as the maximum households can pay in housing costs (mortgage/rent and utilities) without creating an excessive housing burden.

Why is it Important?

This is one measurement of housing affordability in our community.  The lower a household's income, the more likely they are to experience housing cost burden.  According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey, renters over the age of 65 also have a high housing burden.

As recent increases in home prices and rents have outpaced the increase in Vermonters’ wages, housing has become less affordable for more people. Unemployment as a result of the recession has compounded this challenge.  The graph below from the 2009 Update of Between a Rock and a Hard Place shows the gap between the income needed to to buy a median priced home in Vermont and actual median income.  In 2008, the median purchase price for a Vermont home was $200,000 - a 100% increase from 1996, the study's baseline year for its series of reports.

What is This Indicator?

Percentage of people unemployed
(U.S. Department of Labor)

The unemployment rate has risen in Chittenden County as a result of the current recession.The county's rate, however, is lower than the statewide unemploymjent rate.

The unemployment rate is the percentage of the work force that is unemployed at any given date. This indicator does not account for those who need a full time position but do not have one, including those whose hours have been reduced from full-time to part-time, and people who have given up looking for work.

Why is it Important?

Full-time employment is essential to people's ability to support our families' basic needs, including housing, health care and education.  For many in our community, the recession and loss of a job has created unprecedented challenges and stress.

The state's July 2009 Economic Review and Revenue Forecast Update indicates the U.S. economy has now shed more than 6.5 million jobs since the recession began in late 2007, a number equal to the job gains over the past nine years, making this the only recession since the Great Depression to wipe out all job growth experienced during the previous economic expansion.

According to the Public Assets Institute's September 2009 Monthly Jobs Brief, "Vermont’s unemployment rate remained at 6.8 percent in August, the seventh month at this level or higher and the longest stretch since the early 1980’s. As bad as it is for Vermonters, workers elsewhere in the Northeast have it worse. Vermont now has the lowest unemployment rate in New England and New York."