You Need More Than Jobs

I guess you need more than jobs after all for shared prosperity and an end to the recession.  Today the OregonCenter for Public Policy published a report which draws several disturbing conclusions about changes in poverty – and jobs – in Oregon.

The official poverty line was devised in 1960 and is an overly optimistic estimate of what it takes to make ends meet in 2013.  But with that benchmark, families in Oregon (with children and at least one parent working full-time all year) have increased from less than 5% of families in 2006 to more than 6% in 2011 – more than a 20% increase in five years.

Job vs. no-job is not the primary determinant of poverty among Oregon families.  In most families in poverty – 69% - at least one parent is working either full time or less than full time.

The report said, “Full-time work was less likely to be enough for a parent to lift her or his family above the poverty line in 2011 than it was in 2010 and in 2009, the year the recession officially ended.”  The percentage of children in poverty-stricken families increased by about 24% from 2009 to 2011.

            In a final graph, the report illustrates the stark differences in poverty rates between working single mother households and working single father households.  Unsurprisingly, single moms fare much worse than single dads.

            Here are the unfiltered conclusions of the report:

 Lawmakers can help make work pay for families living in poverty. First and foremost, they should renew and strengthen the Oregon Earned Income Tax Credit. The credit allows low-income working families to keep more of what they earn to cover basic needs.

Second, lawmakers can better fund work supports for poor working families. For example, the Employment Related Day Care program, which subsidizes child care for low-income working families, is so poorly funded that eligible parents must first be on a waiting list.

Third, lawmakers can better fund the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program, an employment and training program for very poor families with dependent children.

The majority of families with children living in poverty in Oregon are working families. Oregon can do more to help ensure that work pays for families who are poor despite their work efforts.