Policy Matters

On September 22, 2011, the Census Bureau released the results of the 2010 American Community Survey.  Poverty across all racial groups in Mississippi increased from 20.6% in 2007 to 22.4% in 2010.  Additionally, 9.7 % of Mississippians live in “deep poverty” (the share of the population with incomes below half the poverty line).  This marks a 1% increase from the 2007 rate.

Children in Poverty

The rate of children living in poverty remained high with 27.1% of the state’s children now living in families that fall below the poverty line.

Strikingly, 29.1% of families with children below the age of five live below the poverty line— a 4.6% growth from the previous year.  For many of the children living in these families, SNAP, Medicaid, and the Child Care Certificate Program provide critical services for their development.

This past week’s budget hearings have shown that these trends are not limited to the national lens.  As we move forward in the crafting of the budget and strategies to address high poverty, it is important that Mississippi take a balanced budgeting approach that includes raising revenues to preserve investments in health care, education and asset development.