WCBE News

Census Bureau Data Shows Nearly 2 Million Ohioans Living In Poverty

WCBE 90.5FM | By Jim Letizia,

Published September 18, 2015 at 7:12 AM EDT

The U.S. Census Bureau has released figures on the number of Ohioans living in poverty. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports.

1.8 million Ohioans – nearly 16% of the population – lives at or below the federal poverty level, including nearly a quarter of Ohio’s children. These new Census Bureau numbers are nearly unchanged since last year, even most of those in poverty have full-time jobs. But they clearly don’t pay enough, said Lisa Hamler Fugitt with the Ohio Association of Food Banks, who described the current state of poverty and hunger in Ohio as “staggering”.

Advocates suggest more investment in education, more money for emergency food programs, affordable housing and child care, and for the state to create a refundable earned income tax credit.

Tags

Jim Letizia

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.

See stories by Jim Letizia

Ohio Public Radio

The Statehouse News Bureau was founded in 1980 to provide educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations. To this day, the Bureau remains the only broadcast outlet dedicated to in-depth coverage of state government news and topics of statewide interest. The Bureau is funded througheTech Ohio, and is managed by ideastream. The reporters at the Bureau follow the concerns of the citizens and voters of Ohio, as well as the actions of the Governor, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Supreme Court, and other elected officials. We strive to cover statehouse news, government issues, Ohio politics, and concerns of business, culture and the arts with balance and fairness, and work to present diverse voices and points of view from the Statehouse and throughout Ohio. The three award-winning journalists at the bureau have more than 60 combined years of radio and television experience. They can be heard on National Public Radio and are regular contributors to Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace. Every weekday, the Statehouse News Bureau produces in-depth news reports forOhio's public radio stations. Those stories are also available on this website, either on the front page or in our archives. Weekly, the Statehouse News Bureau produces a television show from our studios in the Statehouse. The State of Ohio is an unique blend of news, interviews, talk and analysis, and is broadcast on Ohio's public television stations. The Statehouse News Bureau also produces special programming throughout the year, including the Governor's annual State of the State address to the Ohio General Assembly and a five-part year-end review.

See stories by Ohio Public Radio