Growing number of Iowans work hard and stay poor

[Rose Siding]

snip>
The working poor earn more than those in poverty but they're often one crisis --- an unexpected illness, or a car that won't start --- away from slipping below the line.

They're typically white, between 19 and 64 years old, often single women. They live in urban areas, but they're also spread across rural Iowa. Many who fall into this category have a high level of education.

They earn more than the federal poverty guideline -- $19,350 for a family of four. That's $9.30 an hour, or $4.15 above the federal minimum wage. Simply put, they make too much money to get help from programs that assist poor people with food, home heating bills and children's nutrition. Without that aid, their costs are greater than those who live in poverty.
.....
Wages of low-income workers have remained stagnant or declined, eroding purchasing power. At the same time, the cost of groceries, consumer goods, gasoline and health care skyrocketed. So has the cost of rent and homeownership, which in Waterloo has more than doubled in five years.
.....
Earnings for the poorest Iowans increased only 3 percent in the past 20 years, while salaries for the richest Iowans increased 43 percent --- resulting in a $115,000 gap. Officials estimate the divide is the widest it has been in two decades. The minimum wage would be more than $65 an hour if it kept pace with the salaries of top corporate executives, according to Tamara Sober Giecek, author of "Teaching Economics as if People Mattered."

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2005/04/03/news/metro/b66f53d0ac2787b386256fd80003b2d2.txt

[SharonAnn]

1. Thank you! I'm from Black Hawk County (Waterloo, IA) and I know

that economic times have been tough there for a while. Lots of reasons why that is so, I suppose.

I left after college because my job took me elsewhere around the United States and now I'm in "pre-retirement" in East Tennessee. But just this morning I started planning a trip back for a gathering with my many cousins in southern Minnesota and planned to also go visit friends in Waterloo.

It was a wonderful place to grow and I'm sad that times are so tough there. But then, those problems are also happening in other places.

[Rose Siding]

8. At least they still have one fine reporter- the whole piece is so good

The profiles are rich and so recognizable.

[girl gone mad]

20. I recommended it.

This is a really good piece of writing.

I think that you would hear these same kinds of stories from people throughout the Midwest and South, and perhaps from the working poor elsewhere, as well.

[Wapsie B]

2. And Iowa's so-called leaders sit and wonder

why people have left the state in droves. Economic development here is still largely chasing smokestacks. repugs point to things like Gateway computer leaving the state due to high taxes. We could cut taxes to nothing and still end up with the same result. The problem that's not addressed is the short-sightedness that has existed here for generations. This attitude has cost the state dearly.

[SharonAnn]

7. Listen, it's much, much worse here in East Tennessee. At least

in Iowa the schools were good and we always placed at or near the top in education quality. That at least allowed us to go and get good jobs, even though John Deere and Black Hawk Packing were about the only game in town in Waterloo then. Witha good education, we had other options.

That's never been true of East Tennessee. The education system here is so bad that you wonder if we're living in the same country as other areas.

[Wapsie B]

16. Oh I agree with you.

Our education system has given us hope for the future. Maybe some will come back with that entreprenurial spirit and begin a venture here.
Then too the population is slowly shifting to a number of urban areas and away from this scattered poulation base that served small farming so well. People forget that this state was settled much differently than many others to allow for the growth of small family farmers.

[ClintonTyree]

3. And continue voting for Republicans...............

you get what you vote for.

[libhill]

5. Yup

That's the Repuke ideal- have people struggle along, working for J.B. Bigbucks for .25 cents a day, with no vacation, no insurance and no retirement plan. But, J.B. only wants an honest mans day, for an honest mans pay. Gawd Bless Amerika.

[okoboji]

4. yep

I am an example of this.

I recently got a job promotion with a $6k increase per year, so that helps. The house I live in is also payed off, just taxes, insurance and minimum maintenance, and it's not a mansion by any means.

But, I do have a older car that could break down and I have debt due to being young and stupid.

If I had a family, things would be different. I can't imagine raising children on my income and be able to provide the basics. That's also assuming that I would be raising the kids alone, naturally with a husband in the picture, the situation could be better, provided he also had a job and didn't gamble or excessively drink.

[Debi]

34. But what we have in Iowa - unlike many other states

Is a pretty good social justice system (DHS, Operation threshold, WIC). Not perfect by any means, but our communities do help poorer people better than many.

And we are fairly organized as well, so when a person goes to DHS for assistance they are told what other agencies could help provide.

[Rose Siding]

38. These people don't qualify for assistance

and without it, they are worse off than those who do qualify. That's what's so frightening:

They earn more than the federal poverty guideline -- $19,350 for a family of four. That's $9.30 an hour, or $4.15 above the federal minimum wage. Simply put, they make too much money to get help from programs that assist poor people with food, home heating bills and children's nutrition. Without that aid, their costs are greater than those who live in poverty.

[Debi]

39. I know they don't fit in the federal guidlines, which need to be revised.

What I was trying to say (and not very well) is that several places outside of DHS do help people whose income is higher but still not enough to cover everything. (County Relief/Heat Assistance/Food Pantry/Community Meals). There are resources in our community that help people on or above the line. That isn't so in many states.

[barb162]

6. I think this describes the entire country

[Ms_Mary]

13. I agree.

[DBoon]

17. as Bush said about the woman who worked at 3 jobs to keep afloat

"uniquely American"

[wildmanj]

9. working poor

business people love cheap labor----they don't care if one eats at the end of the day or not---just pass some more of that CHEAP LABOR SOUP

[ladjf]

11. When is the rank and file of Americans going to wake up and

realize that they are being screwed by big business and the Republican Party?

[barb162]

21. it's looking like never

[libhill]

22. As long as

the idiots continue to stay focused on Gays/Guns/Jaysus, they never will. And the Repukes know that, and I'm sure they have a good laugh at their "Great Unwashed" constituency, when they're down at the country club with Buffy and Duffy and Calvin Clarendon the Third Esq.

[jaysunb]

26. your post is "priceless"

really cuts to the heart of of it .......:thumbsup:

[libhill]

28. Thank ya,

thank vara much.

[Debi]

35. As long as we keep gays from getting married.

<huge SARCASM here> :grr:

[leesa]

10. Well, they must be slackers then! At least that's what most of their

neighbors must think since they likely voted for BushCo

[tsuki]

12. Apparently this reporter has not heard the Republican talking point:

People are pore 'cuz they wanna be.

[libhill]

23. Dang right

They're just not motivated enough to work 4 or 5 jobs for shit wages, so they can move out of the cardboard box, and buy 'em a tent. Downright un - American. I'll bet they even have the gall to think that they're entitled to retire some day, and draw Social Security. Dang Socialists, how dare they?

[lovuian]

14. This is getting close to Dickens times and its closer & closer

They had debtors prison and when the rich get greedy it gets extremely ugly for the poor.

because they want more and more and more...

Thats whats happening is the rich having gotten so greedy

that the working poor are going to figure out they aren't free but slaves

and fighting back becomes the only option of survival

This is the cycle man goes through over and over again

The Corporate World is dying... WWIII is going to finish it off

[IowaGuy]

15. Hey we must be doin' all right, though...we just voted to spend

65 million for a new jail here in Polk Co.

"Build it and they will come"
Field of Dreams

[Debi]

36. Well you just got that fancy new mall, you needed some accessories!

:silly:

[Karmadillo]

18. "Teaching Economics as if People Mattered." What a shock it is

out of print. I assume it lost out to the competition's "Teaching Economics as if People Aren't Worth Shit."

[bleedingheart]

19. Do they Vote? ...and for who?

Until the working poor actually start to vote consistently their situation won't get any better.

Bush preaches a "culture of life"....well how is the plight of the working poor a culture of life...?

[oxbow]

24. about time someone wrote about this

I live in VA, but It is not much better here either, I believe. I would love to see journalists from different states work together and create a series on this subject. The growing gap between the rich and poor, the extra long hours americans work compared to other places in the developed world, the scores of people working as hard as they can just to keep their heads above water; all this points to a dramatic yet largely unnoticed breakdown of the American Dream. This is a subject that people need to know about. Its very sad that the news focuses on celebrities and cause celebres at the expense of issues like this, which affect most of us far more directly.

[libhill]

25. The Repukes

Own the media, so they can't focus on the truth. People might actually wake up and realize that they are getting fucked. And sooner or later, they will. "God Bless America" and "Praise the Lord" and "the Dem's are gonna take your guns" won't work forever.

[oxbow]

27. Its so hard to fathom

I always though people went into journalism because they cared about the truth and whether or not the public knew what was really going on. I hope this chokehold the two conglomerates have on the media breaks down soon. Whenever I see the CNN logo that says "Trust CNN" or "The most trusted name in News" it makes me want to break the TV.

These bastards have turned into national enquirer TV. Its all celbrities and court cases, when real shit is going on everyday. You would think that now that there are several 24 hour news networks, we would have a MORE informed public. What the f*ck is going on?!

[anitar1]

30. But would The Journalists Bosses Allow

it to be printed??

[Wright Patman]

29. Take the Red State Road Trip

http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm

You will learn why America is doomed.

[Featheriver]

31. Iowa Red or Blue State

Did Iowa vote for Bush or Kerry?

[progressoid]

32. Bush this time - Gore in 2000 by a couple thousand votes

[CornField]

41. The eastern part of the state -- where this article orginated -- went blue

The vast majority of Eastern Iowa went to Kerry -- Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Marion, Iowa City, Davenport, etc.

[Rose Siding]

33. Woo Hoo! They're getting a Wal-Mart!

:(

Waverly council votes Monday on Wal-Mart Superstore

WAVERLY --- City leaders will make a super decision Monday.

Five months after Wal-Mart officials unveiled intentions to build a supercenter in southwest Waverly, council members will vote whether to allow the development at the intersection of 29th Avenue Southwest and U.S. Business 218.

Last week, city and company representatives finalized a development agreement, which outlines improvements needed near and along the Business 218 corridor, specifying who pays for what.

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2005/04/04/news/regional/5ecf1623bf46b1d986256fd800040089.txt

[Debi]

37. They already have a Wal-Mart, they're deciding on whether or not

to get a BIGGER WAL-MART :eyes:

[LincolnMcGrath]

40. And I am here to change all this.

My precinct and my county went blue. Next time the whole state will go blue.

[leQ]

42. same here, Cerro Gordo was blue last election, so

i guess i didn't have depression quite as bad as a lot of other people.

[Rose Siding]

43. Just want to tak on "The Working Poor Part II: Getting By, Getting Lost "

before this hits the archives -it's not really LBN on its own but it's so informative.

"The Working Poor Part II: Getting By, Getting Lost"

snip>
Nielsen, a single Waterloo mother of 3-year-old twins, hovers just above the poverty line making $8.50 an hour as a secretary at a job placement agency. A former job, from which she was laid off in August, paid her nearly $2 an hour more. It was on her former salary that she bought a home; she's still responsible for the $570 monthly mortgage payment. She checks the balance of her bank account daily, and thinks about money constantly.

"It never goes away. It's always in the back of my mind," Nielsen said. "I see pants for $3, a shirt for $4, and I think, 'Can I really afford this?'"
....
Part of the problem, economists say, is the jobs being created are overwhelmingly concentrated in low-paying industries, and the national economy will probably continue to depend on these service-based jobs for at least the foreseeable future.

For example, occupations that added the most jobs in Iowa between 2000 and 2003 paid an average $27,000 annually compared to $48,000 by occupations that lost the most jobs, according to an Iowa Policy Project analysis.

Iowans with a college degree typically make $12 an hour more than those with only a high school diploma. Wages are even less for those without a diploma or equivalency certificate.

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2005/04/05/news/metro/doc4251713ac82c6258547025.txt

[CornField]

44. Kudos to the Courier and reporters Palevsky and Morris

This has so-far been an excellent series.

[GOPBasher]

45. $19,350/yr for a family of 4 is more than the poverty guidelines?

A family of 4 cannot possibly live on that money. Rent and groceries alone will total more than that, and forget about car payments. That's pathetic. That's fucking ridiculous. :puke:

[GOPBasher]

46. Oh yeah, and by the way, this is happening everywhere in the country. n/t