A Growing Poverty Trend Earns Illinois the Unfavorable Distinction of Being the Worst in the Midwest

by Amy Rynell

Illinois has the worst poverty rate in the Midwest and ranks last on 14 other economic, health, housing, and education indicators despite being one of the richest states in the region. This information and much more can be found in the 2006 Report on Illinois Poverty, newly released by Heartland Alliance. The report explores poverty in Illinois in order to foster dialogue and promote policy changes that aid the most vulnerable Illinoisans.

The growth of Illinois poverty is startling. Since 1999, there has been an increase of 342,716 new people living in poverty. The poverty rate has climbed from 10 percent to 12.4 percent, meaning that over 1.5 million Illinoisans live in poverty. Thirty-one Illinois counties had an increase in the rate of poverty from 2002 to 2003, and one in four Illinoisans lives near poverty—enough people to fill Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, and South Dakota combined.

These disturbing poverty trends and Illinois’s bleak standing in the Midwest have been exacerbated by the state budget crisis which has resulted in a $387 million decrease in state human services funding from 2001 to 2004. Over time, the cumulative impact of the state’s failure to keep up with inflation combined with real program cuts has significantly increased pressure on local providers and service delivery systems to do more with diminishing support from the state.

Behind these trends, numbers, and rates are real people who have very real struggles and are discovering that work is no longer a guarantee to living without poverty. Illinoisans have suffered from the most mass layoffs in the nation, and nearly 25 percent of all Illinois workers are making the equivalent of poverty-level wages for a family of four. Illinois minority workers are watching their wages continually fall behind those of white workers, and the number of employers offering health insurance and other benefits to their workers is declining.

In addition to declining wages and the lack of meaningful work opportunities for Illinoisans, the report highlights that many Illinoisans have few to no assets. One in every five Illinoisans is asset-poor with Illinois women and minorities experiencing much higher rates of asset poverty. Despite the accepted notion that assets are vital for economic stability, assets are becoming increasingly difficult for Illinois families to accumulate. Median value for owner-occupied units in Illinois rose 20.8 percent from 2000 to 2004, tuition and fees for four-year public Illinois universities have skyrocketed 47 percent, and the bankruptcy rate in Illinois has doubled in the last 10 years.

The problem of poverty in Illinois spans racial, ethnic, age, gender, familial, and geographic boundaries. No group is immune, and no region is without hardship. While 9 percent of Illinois seniors live in poverty, nearly half would be in poverty without social security benefits. Over a half-million Illinois children live in poverty, and 31.4 percent of Illinois women live near poverty. Although some positive change has occurred, 34 of Illinois’s 102 counties were placed on either the Poverty Watch or Warning lists indicating serious struggles with critical indicators including high school graduation rates, teen birth rates, unemployment rates, and poverty rates across the state.

Illinois has yet to make comprehensive changes to ensure that each Illinoisan lives free from poverty. However, encouraging signs on the horizon illustrate how Illinois can construct a pathway out of poverty.

Illinois has raised its minimum wage above the required federal level, has committed to ensuring that each Illinois child has access to affordable health insurance, and will soon launch the largest state-run rent subsidy program in the nation. Further investments in policies such as these, those that reward work, provide stability, and expand asset-building opportunities for all, are necessary to afford opportunities to vulnerable Illinoisans, strengthen the Illinois economy, and ideally move Illinois from worst in the Midwest to best in the Midwest.

A downloadable copy of the 2006 Report on Illinois Poverty is available here.

For more information contact Amy Rynell at Heartland Alliance.

Poverty Action Report
February 2006