Poverty rate exploding in US suburbs



The face of American poverty is now a suburban one, according to new research from the Brookings Institution.

Researchers found that the number of people living in poverty in the suburbs soared 64% between 2000 and 2010, more than twice the rate of urban areas-meaning that now more poor people live in suburbs than in cities or rural areas, although the overall poverty rate remains higher in cities, the Miami Herald reports.

Researchers say the explosion in suburban poverty is the result of many factors, including the housing bust, urban gentrification, and the loss of manufacturing jobs.

In places like Orange County, California, "everything is nicely maintained. Things look good on the surface," the director of a charity helping struggling families tells the LA Times. "But the need has just skyrocketed." Newser

FACTS & FIGURES

Brookings researchers cited a lack of reliable public transportation, thinly spread safety nets designed to help those most in need, and a lack of access to living-wage jobs among other reasons for the rise in poverty in the suburbs. Seattle Times

“When people think of poverty in America, they tend to think of inner city neighborhoods or isolated rural communities,’’ researchers said in a statement released by Brookings. “Poverty is touching more people and places than before, challenging outdated notions of where poverty is and who it affects.’’ Miami Herald

In the Philadelphia area as elsewhere, the reasons for growth in suburban poverty are described by Brookings as the loss of jobs during the recession and its aftermath, the impact of foreclosures, and a growing population of lower-income immigrants moving to the suburbs. Philly.com

The increasing number of poor in Philadelphia's suburbs means "the middle class, which traditionally moved to the suburbs over the last 40 years, has nowhere left to run to anymore as poverty becomes more of a suburban phenomenon," Alan Berube, a senior fellow at Brookings, said in an interview. Philly.com

Millions of Americans suffered a loss of wealth during the recession and the sluggish recovery that followed. But the last half-decade has proved far worse for black and Hispanic families than for white families, starkly widening the already large gulf in wealth between non-Hispanic white Americans and most minority groups, according to a new study from the Urban Institute. The New York Times

A top Federal Reserve policymaker has raised the possibility that rising inequality may restrain economic growth for several years in a sign the central bank may be worried about the increasing gap between the rich and poor. Huffington Post



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