Number of Washtenaw County residents living in poverty increases, U.S. Census figures show
No matter how you slice it, 2008 wasn’t a good year financially for Washtenaw County residents, U.S. Census data released today shows.
The average income made by families and households fell between 2007 and 2008, while the percentage of families and individuals living below the federal poverty line grew, the data shows.
The trend was true both across the county as a whole, and in the city of Ann Arbor.
Jillian Marshall, 37, of Ypsilanti Township, is among those who are living under the poverty line for the first time. She lost her job seven months ago, and her husband lost his job a year ago.
"It's been amazingly hard," she said. "We're in the process of losing our house. We're getting food stamps for the first time. There's just no jobs out there. We're going to have move out of the state to find any sort of job."
The economic downturn isn't just resulting in people losing jobs, Census data shows. It's also impacting the amount of money people make, even when they're still employed.
According to the Census data, the average household income in 2007 in Washtenaw County was $80,077. That fell 2.2 percent to $78,305 in 2008.
In the city of Ann Arbor, the average household income in 2007 was $75,708. It fell 7.3 percent to $70,561, the data shows.
The number of people living in poverty increased over that same period, the data shows.
In Washtenaw County, the percentage of all people living below the poverty line increased 1.9 percentage points - from 12.7 percent in 2007 to 14.6 percent in 2008.
In the city of Ann Arbor, the percentage of all people living below the poverty line increased 5.1 percentage points from 19.8 percent in 2007 to 24.9 percent in 2008.
The city poverty data also includes University of Michigan students, many of whom live below the poverty line.
The poverty line is $10,836 for a single person. For a family of four, it's $22,050.
The increase in the number of people living in poverty has strained the demand for help from local non-profit agencies, officials have said.
At the same time, those non-profits have seen contributions from private donors shrink and local governments either cutting or consider cutting their contributions.
"We fund about 45 non-profits," Mary Jo Callan, Washtenaw County's director of community services, said in an interview about poverty before the numbers were released. "We've been hearing that they are all up 20 percent to 60 percent in demand.
"This is all happening in a time when the existing systems are overtaxed. It's the perfect storm."
David Jesse covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at davidjesse@annarbor.com or at 734-623-2534.
Comments
OverTaxed
Mon, Oct 5, 2009 : 7:09 p.m.
Income is down and the government of this state, county, and city want a tax increase. Kick us while we are down, that is always the answer from the big spenders.
Cici
Wed, Sep 30, 2009 : 3:47 p.m.
And the county and city intend to ask for tax increases at a time like this?!! The AATA wants increasing fees, city parking fees are rising, and so on. Property tax increases will push more seniors and low income homeowners below the poverty line. And the city is considering new development projects?? We have businesses that seem to be barely making it, and there is a glut of apartments and even condos for rent that people can't sell. And at a time like this why can't our tax money have priorities: take care of basic services like fixing roads, snow removal, trash pickup, clean water, etc. etc. Certainly fixing roads and potholes should be a major priority in every season. Ann Arbor is 'pot-hole' city much too often. Where is our city council in setting appropriate priorities??
uawisok
Tue, Sep 29, 2009 : 5:51 p.m.
I also never voted for Reagan and was teased for voting twice for Perot. Perot was the only one honest enough to say that NAFTA would cause a giant sucking sound...that sound would be jobs going to Mexico and Canada(employers don't pay for health care) He was and still is right...both political mainstream parties have sold out the middle class and continue to do so!!
David Briegel
Tue, Sep 29, 2009 : 4:47 p.m.
Topcat, Reaganomics, as I'm certain you know, applies to the philosophy of Reagan and his disciples, esp the Bush Crime Family, which meant that the rich were paying too much in taxes and we needed to "starve the beast" (shrink govt). It worked and you are seeing the results. Except they have grown the govt and not one ever submitted a balanced budget. Not once! The rich won the class warfare battle! Have you ever complained about the Perpetual War Profiteers (Eisenhower never even imagined this)? If only we could check off for the military you would find out the real support for the foolish policies of our govt. I know you would gladly donate to these misadventure while people here have it tough because of these same failed policies.
goldenchild000
Tue, Sep 29, 2009 : 2:59 p.m.
A lot of the blame goes to the greed of UofM..Ann Arbor's biggest employer. Wages here are horrendous. Pay raises are even worse. And when people try to voice these concerns, they fall on deaf ears. Every year we hear that UofM has no money during staff reviews. Yet, there is over 1 billion in construction going on right now. So we take our small raise(38 cents and hour this year) only to find out that our execs. got a 19% raise.
Michael Christie
Tue, Sep 29, 2009 : 2:49 p.m.
Keep in mind that some come here for the free medical treatment at Ann Arbor's shelter.
David Briegel
Tue, Sep 29, 2009 : 12:21 p.m.
How much more proof do we need of the abject failure of Reaganomics and everything he stood for. And don't you think we should cut more of those govt bureaucrats providing services to the less fortunate among us?
MjC
Tue, Sep 29, 2009 : 11:33 a.m.
A very sad sign of the times. I can't imagine a family of four trying to survive on $22,000/year (especially in A2). Michigan is not the state to be living in these days, that's for sure.