Saturday, December 02, 2006

If Texas were a town with 100 children. . .


44 would be Hispanic

40 would be White

13 would be Black

3 would be another race or ethnicity

49 would live in a low-income household (200% of federal poverty level)
--Of these, 23 would live in poverty (at federal poverty level)
--For 10, this poverty would be extreme (at 50% of federal poverty level)

21 would lack health insurance

25 would lack childhood immunizations

Something to meditate and prayer over in church tomorrow, don't you think?

[Source: "The State of Texas Children 2006: Texas KIDS COUNT Annual Data Book," published by the Center for Public Policy Priorities. Visit them at www.cppp.org.]

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Larry- why would 25 lack immunizations? My kids get theirs free here in Richardson at a clinic and we even have insurance! Aren't there clinics like this in other cities?

Larry James said...

No everyone has parents like you, not every town is like Richardson, not everyone understands why and how to get their children the shots they need.

Yes. The new federal guidelines have poverty for a family of 4 at $20K per year. I read last week that 1/2 of U. S. wage earners make $33,000 annually and below.

Anonymous said...

Justin, you say that like $40,000 is enough for a family of four. I hope that you don't think that way.

In Dallas, HUD has determined that the fair market rate for a two-bedroom apartment probably runs around $798 per month.

That lowers it to $30,424.

If the family is married and files jointly, they pay about a 15% tax rate. If it's a single-parent family, it's more likely 25%.

Either case doesn't leave much for things like a car to get to work, insurance for that car, fuel, and food.

This doesn't yet include health insurance, or medical bills.

And what about childcare?

Or even something as simple as birthday presents?

I suggest you take the poverty tour:
http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/tour.htm