CHILD POVERTY GROWS IN ALL NEIGHBORHOODS SERVED BY PLAIN PRESS

by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, October, 2016)       Despite the many community development projects in Cleveland neighborhoods, the poverty rate in Cleveland was estimated to be higher in 2012 than it was in the year 2000. The 2000 Census listed the poverty rate in Cleveland at 26.27%. A 2012 American Community Survey (ACS) five-year estimate of the poverty rate for the City of Cleveland is 34.23%. Cleveland remains the second poorest big city in the United States (Detroit, Michigan is the poorest).

The poverty rate in Cleveland is especially high among families with children. Estimates from the United States Census indicate that the poverty rate for children in Cleveland has increased dramatically since the 2000 census. The City of Cleveland child poverty rate for children (ages 0-17) in the 2000 Census was 38.97%. The estimate of child poverty in Cleveland by the 2012 ACS indicates the poverty rate for children had risen to 50.81%.

The City of Cleveland’s population declined dramatically from 466,301 in 2000 to and estimated 388,144 in 2012. This represents a loss of 78,157 people. During the same time period, the actual number of children in Cleveland living below poverty in Cleveland went down from 50,628 in 2000 to 48,221. These numbers show that while there are fewer children in Cleveland now than there were in 2000, a greater percentage of those children (just over 50%) are living in poverty.

What does the poverty rate look like in neighborhoods served by the Plain Press?

Neighborhood Name       Poverty Rate 2000 Census          Poverty Estimate 2012 ACS                                   

Cleveland                                            26.27%                                                     34.23%

Bellaire Puritas                                  14.24%                                                       24.63%

Brooklyn Centre                                 22.74%                                                      37.15%

Clark-Fulton                                        33.03%                                                      46.88%

Cudell                                                       30.61%                                                     44.18%

Detroit Shoreway                                 34.15%                                                      41.81%

Edgewater                                                15.05%                                                     24.58%

Jefferson                                                    9.73%                                                     21.72%

Ohio City                                                  36.71%                                                     43.35%

Stockyards                                                33.03%                                                    47.41%

Tremont                                                     38.91%                                                     41.03%

West Boulevard                                       20.00%                                                     30.57%

While the poverty rate is growing neighborhoods served by the Plain Press, the poverty rate for families with children is also increasing.

Neighborhood         Child Poverty Rate 2000 Census    Child Poverty Estimate 2012 ACS

Cleveland                                               37.97%                                                              50.81%

Bellaire Puritas                                     21.16%                                                               31.88%

Brooklyn Centre                                   30.67%                                                              56.46%

Clark-Fulton                                         44.54%                                                              59.55%

Cudell                                                       44.43%                                                             52.73%

Detroit Shoreway                                46.94%                                                               58.03%

Edgewater                                              25.76%                                                                50.31%

Jefferson                                                 13.14%                                                                 34.95%

Ohio City                                                50.24%                                                                60.99%

Stockyards                                             46.25%                                                                 68.00%

Tremont                                                  56.29%                                                                  68.23%

West Boulevard                                    27.47%                                                                   43.67%

 

Data Source: NEO CANDO, (Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Data for Organizing). NEO CANDO IS a free and publicly accessible social and economic data system of the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development, a research institute housed at Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

Editor’s Note: U.S. Government’s lists the current national poverty rate at 14.5%. The federal poverty line currently is $11,892 for individuals and $23,836 for a family of four.