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Wednesday, August 30, 2006
By Marie Price
The Journal Record
OKLAHOMA CITY – The number of Oklahomans living in poverty rose over the last two years while state median income fell slightly, according to an anti-poverty organization’s analysis of data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
David Blatt, public policy director for the Tulsa Community Action Project, said that overall Oklahoma is experiencing a general period of prosperity.
“These numbers should sound the alarm that we are experiencing a very uneven recovery, where the average household, as well as those at the bottom of the economic ladder, are being left out of the state’s overall economic growth,” Blatt said. “It has not spread itself to the lower rung of the economy.”
According to the census bureau’s Current Population Survey, the state’s median household income dropped a bit, from a two-year average of $39,519 in 2003-2004 to $39,292 for 2004-2005.
The data show a slight increase over the previous 12 months for both Oklahoma men and women, however, with women earning about 74.8 percent as much as men, an increase of 1.5 percent.
This was during a period when overall state personal income rose 6 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The state’s unemployment rate is fairly low, Blatt said, but wages have not risen appreciably.
He said most of the recovery has been concentrated at the top level of the income spectrum.
The number of families living below the poverty level increased from 11.8 percent to 13.2 percent for the same two-year period.
For 2005 alone, the figures show 16.5 percent of Oklahomans living in poverty, an increase of 0.5 percent for the 12 months.
“A growing number of people have failed to make it to the poverty line,” Blatt said.
CAP said this represents about 50,000 additional Oklahomans living below the poverty line.
In 2005, the federal poverty line was just below $20,000 for a family of four.
These are the same families wrestling with higher costs for fuel, heating, health care, housing and education, he added.
“We hope this evidence of Oklahoma’s uneven recovery will encourage policymakers to use available revenues to pursue an active agenda that focuses on bolstering assistance and expanding opportunities for low- and moderate-income families,” Blatt said.
Census data also show that the number of Oklahomans without health insurance dropped by 1 percentage point during the most recent two-year period, down to 19 percent. The national rate is 15.7 percent.
Blatt said the slight dip is encouraging.
At the same time, Oklahoma ranked fourth highest among the states for the number of uninsured.
States ranking higher were Florida, New Mexico and Texas, which has an uninsured rate close to 25 percent according to the census figures.
“Being without health insurance leaves families one medical emergency away from falling into poverty,” Blatt said. “Even with this slight improvement in the numbers of uninsured, it’s obvious that there is an ongoing health insurance crisis in this state that requires the continued attention of policymakers, employers and health care providers.
Posted at 8/30/2006 10:30:00 AM  
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