Washington, D.C. — A new report released today by the Center for American Progress Action Fund finds that Ohio is doing worse than many states in several indicators of poverty, including the overall poverty rate, the child poverty rate, hunger and food insecurity, and unemployment insurance coverage.
CAP Action’s report outlines several policy recommendations to reduce poverty in Ohio, including raising the minimum wage and enacting guaranteed paid sick leave for workers.
In 2013, the national poverty rate remained unacceptably high at 14.5 percent, with some 45.3 million Americans living in poverty. In Ohio, 16 percent of people had incomes below the poverty line—$23,834 annually for a family of four—in 2013, ranking the state 31st in the nation.
“Even though our economy is growing again, far too families are not seeing any benefits. This is especially true for Ohioans living in poverty,” said Melissa Boteach, Vice President of Half in Ten at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. “Through common-sense policies such as raising the minimum wage and providing guaranteed paid sick leave, Ohio lawmakers have the power to reduce poverty and provide economic security and opportunity to more Ohio workers and their families.”
Of the 15 poverty indicators tracked in the report, Ohio ranked in the bottom half of the country for 10 indicators, including:
- 40th in the nation for hunger and food insecurity. From 2011 to 2013, an average 16 percent of households in Ohio were food insecure, meaning that they experienced difficulty providing enough food due to a lack of money or resources during some point of the year.
- 39th in the nation for unemployment insurance coverage. Less than one in five unemployed workers in Ohio were helped by unemployment insurance in 2013.
- 34th in the nation for gender wage gap. Among full-time, year-round workers in Ohio in 2013, women’s median earnings were 77 percent of men’s median earnings.
- 32nd in the nation for child poverty rate. More than one in five children younger than age 18 in Ohio lived below the poverty line in 2013.
Read the report: State of the States Report 2014: Local Momentum for National Change to Cut Poverty and Inequality by Sarah Baron
Read the Ohio fact sheet here
Related resources: Building Local Momentum for National Change: Half in Ten Annual Poverty and Inequality Indicators Report by Melissa Boteach, Shawn Fremstad, Erik Stegman, Sarah Baron, and Rebecca Vallas
For more information or to speak to an expert, contact Chelsea Kiene at [email protected] or 202.478.5328.
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