More about Hungry Idaho, Housing and Employment.

This is another part of the series here I been searching about Idaho, for a quick stat and another blog just about the laws and integrity is Idaho ranked 6th worst state in the union, nice to know the integrity of law but this blog is about Food and the Housing cost. so get prepaired for something sad and really shocking, because this is your private little Idaho.

U.S. Department of Agriculture reports as follows....
-2002-04, Idaho saw food insecurity increase from 13.0% to 14.6%, This increase moved Idaho from the state with the 18th worst rate of food insecurity during the 1996-98 period to the 8th worst during 2002-2004.

-Brandeis University, Center on Hunger and Poverty, August 2002, ranked Idaho sixth worst hunger state in the country.

-US Census and the Federal Register showed the 2003-4 poverty rate in Idaho was 10%, The child poverty rate in Idaho is 14.9%, The national average in 2004 was 12.7%, The poverty line for a family of four is about $18,244 per year for income.

-A minimum wage worker earns about $11,000 per year. In 1996, the most recent year for which these figures are available, 46% of all jobs in Idaho paid less than the $9.22 needed for a single adult in 1996. The same year, 74% paid less than the $14.42 needed for an adult with two children. 20% of Idaho’s households don’t make the $20,534 ($9.87 per hour) per year needed to rent a two-bedroom house. In Ada and Canyon counties, the necessary income is $23,200 per year. (University of Washington Job Gap Study)

-A newer study found that in 2003, 28% of Idaho renters don’t make the $10.13 per hour ($19,449.60) per year needed to pay rent and utilities for a two-bedroom apartment. This is an increase of 26 cents per hour from 2002. Idaho renters must earn at least $11.20 per hour to earn enough for a two-bedroom apartment. This means that on average in Idaho minimum-wage workers must work 87 hours a week at $5.15 per hour to pay the rent. In Ada and Canyon counties, it is 98 hours per week; Bannock is 76 hours; Nez Perce is 79 hours. Madison County has the lowest rents and requires an average of 69 hours; Blaine County is highest at 119 hours. (Boise Neighborhood Housing Services and National Low Income Housing Coalition 2004)

-20.7% of Idahoans (269,000 people) have no health insurance, compared to the national average of 17.6%. (U.S. Census)

-In the last few months of 2002, Idaho’s welfare roles increased 15%, more than any other state’s. (Center for Law and Social Policy)

-Idaho’s welfare laws rate 51st compared to all other states and Washington, D.C. when ranked for their likelihood to encourage and support families’ efforts to become economically self-sufficient. (Tufts University’s Center on Hunger and Poverty)

-Idaho was graded as an “F” for having the worst post-welfare reform social safety net (tied with Indiana and Wyoming) among the 50 states. (Center for Third World Organizing)

-Idaho is 11th in the nation in the rate of bankruptcy, 25% higher than it is in the nation as a whole. The bankruptcy rate is increasing over time, too – up 30% from 2000. (Center for American Progress).

Our Children...
-The child poverty rate in Idaho is 16% (62,305 children). (Idaho Kids Count 2005)

-29% of Idaho young adults live in poverty ranking Idaho worst in the nation. (Idaho Kids Count 2005)

-42% of school-age children – 74,433 Idaho children per day – receive free and reduced lunch. (Idaho Kids Count 2005)

-One in eight Idaho children – 49,570 children – go to bed hungry every night. The national figure is 12 million children. (US Census)

-23% of Idaho children live in families where no parent has a full-time, year-round job.(Annie E. Casey Foundation)

-20% of Idaho children (72,000 children) live in low-income working families; 15% of children live in low-income working families that receive food stamps (the figure is 24% nationwide); 32% of children live in low-income working families without health insurance.(Annie E. Casey Foundation)

-42% of Idaho children live in low-income working families ranking Idaho 45th in the nation (Idaho Kids Count 2005)


Work, must work to support family....

-There are 68,400 people in Idaho who qualify as working poor. The US has 14.8 million working poor. (America’s Second Harvest)

-Since 2000, Idaho has lost 7,212 manufacturing jobs with an average salary in 2003 of $40,939. Idaho has gained 14,122 service jobs at an average salary of $19,278, which includes call center jobs that reportedly pay $30,000 to $65,000 per year. (Idaho Department of Labor)

-A 2002 University of Utah study found that 47% of the former welfare recipients interviewed lived below the federal poverty line even after 20 months off welfare. In 2001, the poverty level for a single mother and one child was an income of $12,207 per year. Researchers also found that 20% of respondents lived below half the poverty level, or had an income of $6,096 per year. Respondents with jobs earned an average of $7.96 per hour or $16,557 per year for full-time work. (Salt Lake Tribune)

-In 2000, a living wage in Idaho was calculated to be $10.11 per hour ($21,037 per year) for a single adult. For a single adult with one child it was $12.82 ($26,672). For a single adult with two children it was $15.83 per hour ($32,920). For two adults, one of whom was working, with two children, it was $13.73 per hour ($28,562). For two adults, both of whom were working, with two children, it was $17.96 per hour combined wages ($37,351). (University of Washington Job Gap Study)

-The Idaho economy is not creating enough living-wage jobs. The pay offered for 78% of new jobs in Idaho are inadequate to meet a family of three’s basic needs. (Northwest Job Gap Study)

-Most children who need food assistance are children of the working poor. In Idaho, the cost of living is slightly above the national average, but wage earners bring home 21% less. Twenty-five percent of working people in Idaho earn $8 or less per hour. (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)

-Every adult job seeker in Idaho must compete with two other people for every living-wage position. For adults with children, the prospects of finding living-wage employment are even bleaker. There is only one living-wage job for every 10 job-seeking parents raising two children on their own. (Northwest Job Gap Study)

-Only one of in every four jobs paid enough to provide a single parent a living wage, and when one of those jobs comes open, there are an average of eight applicants. (UW Job Gap Study)

-In 2002, emergency food requests nationally were up 23%. 48% of those requesting food were families with children. Families with children increased their requests for food by 17%. The leading cause of hunger was low-paying jobs. (The U.S Conference of Mayors annual survey)

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Okay now I am hungry and poor, yeah yeah I know , your gonna say "I live in Idaho" but I am thinking about it, If the Wife and I move to Idaho we will be uhhhhh potatoes, mashed with gravy.