Three-year census data ending in 2003 reveal that 20.3 percent of Louisianians live in poverty. "That compares to 12.7 percent for the rest of the country," says LSU AgCenter nutritionist Dr. Annrose Guarino.
Other census data from that period ending in 2003 underline the problem:
"Food insecurity affects health, productivity, growth and development of children and quality of life," Guarino says, adding, "With fewer resources to buy food or to obtain health care or other preventive or remedial interventions, the poor are particularly susceptible to health damage from hunger and food insecurity."
The LSU AgCenter nutritionist says research finds that hunger weakens health and raises the incidence of illness, sickness or hospitalizations. Hunger impairs cognitive or mental function in children, leading to slower learning and lower grades and test scores. Lack of resources for food also affects behavior, especially among children, increasing mental health and special education services.
Are things getting better? Fortunately, after the poverty rate rose in 2001, it has since been on a steady decline. In July 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor ranked Louisiana 37th in unemployment with an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent. This is a decrease of 0.7 percent since 2003.
"Food emergency agencies are changing their services," Guarino says. Between 56 percent and 60 percent of the Second Harvest agencies surveyed reported an increase since 1998 in the number of clients who come to their emergency food program sites.
Second Harvest is the nation's largest organization of emergency food providers. The agencies serve an estimated 23.3 million different people annually. This includes 21.3 million pantry users, 1.3 million kitchen users and 0.7 million shelter users.
Guarino points out that although poverty has many faces, it is something people want to escape. She explains, "Poverty is a call to action – for the poor and the wealthy alike – a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, have adequate shelter, have access to education and health, have protection from violence and have a voice in what happens in their communities."
The nutritionist says public awareness of hunger is essential. Local organizations can help reduce hunger and food insecurity. Nonprofit groups can provide supplemental food and collect food donations. They can form partnerships on the local, state and federal levels to assist communities in reducing hunger.
Families and their communities are working together to solve the problems of individual, household and community food insecurity and hunger.
Guarino identifies the many faces of poverty in Louisiana:
- Louisiana’s poverty rate is 19.2% – the second highest rate in the nation, and the highest in the South. (U.S. Census Bureau)
- More than 26% of Louisiana children live in poverty – the second highest rate in the nation and the highest in the South. (U.S. Census Bureau)
- Ten percent of the babies born in Louisiana are low birth weight. That’s the second-highest percentage in the nation and the South. In many cases, low birth weight babies face added difficulties learning and need additional assistance to succeed in school. (U.S. Census Bureau)
- Louisiana has the highest percentage in the nation of families with children headed by a single parent – 35%. The Southern average is 29%. (2000 Kids Count Data Book)
- Thirty-five percent of children in Louisiana live with parents who do not have full-time, year-round jobs. That’s the second-worst rate in the nation and the South. The Southern average is 29%. (U.S. Census Bureau)
- The nationally recognized Better Homes Fund cited Louisiana as the state where children are the most at risk for homelessness. (The Better Homes Fund.)
- In Louisiana, 13% of teens age 16-19 do not attend school or work. That’s the second-highest percentage in the nation and, along with Tennessee, the highest in the South. (U.S. Census Bureau)
- During the 1999-2000 school year, 34% of the “at-risk” four-year-olds in Louisiana were not being served by any public early childhood program. That amounts to more than 13,000 children. (LA Department of Education)
- Fewer than half the fourth and eighth grade students who took the LEAP 21 “high stakes” test in 2000 reached the level of basic in math. Just over half reached the basic level in English. (LA Department of Education)
- Louisiana has the highest juvenile incarceration rate in the nation at a cost of more than $26,000 a year for every youngster housed in a state facility. (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention & La. Legislative Auditor)
Source: http://www.hopenetworks.org/povertyinlouisiana.htm
Guarino points to an "interesting" statistic showing that 59 percent of Second Harvest clients receive Food Stamp Program benefits, but far more are assumed to be eligible.
Among households with school-age children, up to 879,671 participate in the federal school lunch and school breakfast programs. Sixty four percent of these children receive free or reduced lunch, and 86 percent receive free or reduced breakfast.
Most of the America’s Second Harvest provider network includes faith-based agencies affiliated with churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious organizations.
Ever wonder where all that food comes from that agencies distribute to needy families? Other sources include religious organizations and direct purchases from wholesalers and retailers.
Absolute poverty thresholds vs. relative poverty thresholds -- As explained by a National Academy of Sciences panel, “Absolute thresholds are fixed at a point in time and updated solely for price changes…. In contrast, relative thresholds, as commonly defined, are developed by reference to the actual expenditures (or income) of the population.” See Citro and Michael, eds., Measuring Poverty: A New Approach (National Academy Press, 1995), page 31, “Types of Poverty Thresholds.”
Annual poverty rate -- percentage of people who were in poverty in a calendar year.
Annual poverty rates from the Current Population Survey and the decennial census long form are based on income reported at an annual figure.
- In the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), income is reported a few months at a time, several times a year. Therefore, in the SIPP, annual poverty rates are calculated using the sum of family income over the year divided by the sum of poverty thresholds that can change from month to month if one’s family composition changes.
Average monthly poverty -- Average percentage of people poor per month in each year of a longitudinal survey panel. See also Longitudinal survey data.
Chronic or long-term poverty -- Percent of people in poverty every month for the duration of a longitudinal survey panel (typically three to four years). See also Longitudinal survey data.
Cross-sectional survey data -- Data from a survey in which a new group of respondents is sampled for each interview, instead of following the same group of respondents over time. The Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC), the American Community Survey (ACS) and the decennial census long form are cross-sectional surveys. See also Longitudinal survey data.
Entrance rate -- Percentage of people who were not in poverty during the first year of a Longitudinal survey but were in poverty in a subsequent year. Uses an annual poverty measure.
Episodic poverty -- Percentage of people who were poor in two or more consecutive months in a given period. Episodic poverty can only be computed using Longitudinal survey data.
Equivalence scale -- The numerical relationship by which poverty thresholds vary for families of different sizes and compositions.
Exit rate -- Percentage of people who were in poverty during the first year of a Longitudinal survey but were not in poverty in a subsequent year. Uses an annual poverty measure.
Federal Poverty Level (FPL) -- According to the Department of Health and Human Services, “The poverty guidelines are sometimes loosely referred to as the ‘federal poverty level’ (FPL), but that phrase is ambiguous and should be avoided, especially in situations (legislative or administrative) where precision is important.” [http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/05poverty.shtml, last accessed May 24, 2005.] See also HHS poverty guidelines.
Gini ratio -- The Gini ratio (or index of income concentration) is a statistical measure of income equality ranging from 0 to 1. A measure of 1 indicates perfect inequality; that is, one person has all the income and rest have none. A measure of 0 indicates perfect equality; all people have equal shares of income. The Census Bureau used grouped data to compute all Gini ratios. For a more detailed discussion, see Census Bureau Current Population Reports, Series P-60, No. 123.
Income deficit / income surplus -- Income deficit is the number of dollars that the income of a family in poverty (or unrelated individual) falls below its poverty threshold. If income is negative, the deficit equals the threshold. Income surplus is the difference in dollars between the income of a family or unrelated individual above the poverty level and its poverty threshold.
Income surplus -- Income surplus is the difference in dollars between the income of a family or unrelated individual above the poverty level and its poverty threshold.
Income-to-poverty ratio -- See Ratio of income to poverty.
Longitudinal survey data -- Data from a survey in which the same respondents are interviewed multiple times, using the same set of questions, over a period of time (a panel). The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is a longitudinal survey. While cross-sectional data have been compared to "snapshots" in that differences between two cross-sectional estimates are based on two different samples of people, longitudinal data instead allow the analyst to observe how the status of the same group of people changes over time--for instance, by observing the average number of months a person falls below the poverty level, or by observing the demographic characteristics of people who enter and leave poverty. In that sense, longitudinal data have been compared to "videos." See, for instance, Mary Naifeh, "Dynamics of Economic Well-Being, Poverty, 1993-94: Trap Door? Revolving Door? Or Both?"
Long-term poverty -- See Chronic or long-term poverty.
Median income -- Median income is the amount which divides the income distribution into two equal groups, half having incomes above the median, half having incomes below the median. The medians for households, families and unrelated individuals are based on all households, families and unrelated individuals, respectively. The medians for people are based on people 15 years old and older with income.
Monthly poverty -- See Average monthly poverty.
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel -- The National Research Council’s Panel on Poverty and Family Assistance: Concepts, Information Needs and Measurement Methods. -- A group of scholars who co-authored a publication in 1995, Measuring Poverty: A New Approach (National Academy Press, 1995), that recommended alternative methods for measuring poverty. The Census Bureau has conducted research to refine some of the panel's measurement methods and to examine how its recommendations would affect the number in poverty and the poverty rate. (For further information see Poverty Measurement Studies and Alternative Measures.)
Poverty areas -- Poverty areas are census tracts or block numbering areas (BNAs) where at least 20 percent of residents were below the poverty level.
Poverty definition -- Following the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive 14, the Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty. If a family’s total income is less than the family’s threshold, then that family and every individual in it is considered in poverty. The official poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated for inflation using Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or noncash benefits (such as public housing, Medicaid and food stamps).
Poverty in the past 12 months -- The American Community Survey measures poverty in the previous 12 months instead of the previous calendar year. For more information, see ACS poverty definition.
Poverty rate -- The percentage of people (or families) who are below poverty.
Poverty spell -- Number of months in poverty as measured using panel data from a longitudinal survey (excluding spells under way in the first interview month of the panel). Miminum spell length is two months. Spells are separated by two or more months of not being in poverty. Individuals can have more than one spell.
Poverty thresholds -- Dollar amounts the Census Bureau uses to determine a family's or person's poverty status.
Poverty universe -- Persons for whom the Census Bureau can determine poverty status (either "in poverty" or "not in poverty"). For some persons, such as unrelated individuals under age 15, poverty status is not defined. Since Census Bureau surveys typically ask income questions to persons age 15 or older, if a child under age 15 is not related by birth, marriage or adoption to a reference person within the household, we do not know the child's income and therefore cannot determine his or her poverty status. For the decennial censuses and the American Community Survey, poverty status is also undefined for people living in college dormitories and in institutional group quarters. People whose poverty status is undefined are excluded from Census Bureau poverty tabulations. Thus, the total population in poverty tables--the poverty universe--is slightly smaller than the overall population.
Ratio of income to poverty -- People and families are classified as being in poverty if their income is less than their poverty threshold. If their income is less than half their poverty threshold, they are below 50 percent of poverty; less than the threshold itself, they are in poverty (below 100 percent of poverty); less than 1.25 times the threshold, below 125 percent of poverty, and so on. The greater the ratio of income to poverty, the more people fall under the category, because higher ratios include more people with higher incomes.
Relative poverty thresholds -- See Absolute poverty thresholds vs. relative poverty thresholds.
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates -- The Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program produces estimates of income and poverty for states and counties, and population and poverty for school districts. The estimates are provided for the administration of federal programs and the allocation of federal funds to local jurisdictions.
Spells of poverty -- see poverty spell.
Standard error -- A measure of an estimate's variability. The greater the standard error in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate.
Threshold -- See poverty threshold.
Unrelated individual -- Unrelated individuals are people of any age who are not members of families or subfamilies.
Working poor -- The Census Bureau does not use the term "working poor." The "working poor" may mean different things to different data users, based on the question they are trying to answer, such as:
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People who worked but who, nevertheless, fell under the official definition of poverty. See Census Bureau table POV22 for Detailed Poverty Tables. Table
POV22 focuses on workers versus non-workers, age 16 and over.
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People who were in poverty and had at least one working family member. See table POV10 of Detailed Poverty Tables. Table
POV10 includes the children and other family members of workers (such as stay-at-home parents, retired family members and others).
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People who may not necessarily be "in poverty" according to the official measure of poverty but who fall below some percentage of the poverty level (for instance, 200 percent of poverty).
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Percentages of the poverty level are referred to as "Ratio of income to poverty" in Detailed Poverty Tables.
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"Below 100 percent of poverty" is the same as "in poverty."
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"Below 200 percent of poverty" includes all those described as "in poverty" under the official definition, plus some people who have income above poverty but less than two times their poverty threshold.
A few additional terms also apply to individuals and families living in poverty. From the Life Sciences Research Office, S.A. Andersen, ed., ("Core Indicators of Nutritional State for Difficult to Sample Populations," The Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 120, 1990, 1557S-1600S), food security, food insecurity and hunger consider access to enough food.
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Food security refers to assured access to enough food at all times for an active and healthy life. At a minimum, food security includes: the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods and a guaranteed ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging or stealing, for example).
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Food insecurity occurs whenever the availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food, or the ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways, is limited or uncertain.
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Hunger is defined as the uneasy or painful sensation caused by a recurrent or involuntary lack of food and is a potential, although not necessary, consequence of food insecurity. Over time, hunger may result in malnutrition.
Wachs TD. in Relation of Mild-to-Moderate Malnutrition to Human Development; (Correlational Studies. J Nutr; 125:2245-54S.) provided the following information on mild malnutrition.
Source: Annrose Guarino (225) 578-4449, or Aguarino@agcenter.lsu.edu.