Demand for support services skyrocketed during downturn

LITTLE ROCK - The Great Recession's toll on Arkansas workers has been particularly hard for those who started behind during good times, according to a new analysis by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. The unemployment rate in Arkansas has hovered below the national rate, masking the worsening employment situation for many low-income families.

"The State of Working Arkansas 2011" is a comprehensive look at worker demographics, earnings and unemployment data during the recent recession.

"This shows what many low-income and minority working families have felt daily for the past few years," said Rich Huddleston, AACF Executive Director. "While we're better off as a whole than many other states, our low-income and minority workers in Arkansas have seen stagnant or falling wages, greater expenses and fewer opportunities to advance--or even find a job--without a college degree."

Findings of the report show that:

• Despite an unemployment rate below or matching the national rate for the past few years, the demand for public benefits such as unemployment, food and child care assistance has skyrocketed.
• The number of families living under the federal poverty level in Arkansas has been higher than the national average for years, and sharply increased during the recession.
• The top growing job sector, professional and business services, is not matched by growth in the number of college graduates that the state produces.
• The average age of the Arkansas worker continues to increase, while young people are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed than workers over 25.
• Wages were stagnant or falling during the recession, with women and minorities unable to make up the gap in earnings with other groups.
• The number of male workers settling for part-time work has doubled, mostly during the recession.

The report includes several recommendations for Arkansas leaders to help working families move out of poverty. They include:

STATE:

• Enacting a refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Improving access to subsidized childcare.
• Expanding both access and outreach for SNAP benefits.
• Continuing to cut the sales tax on groceries.

FEDERAL:

• Maintaining funding for the Childcare and Development Block Grant, which supports working Arkansas families with childcare programs.
• Protecting SNAP benefits for low-income families.
• Streamlining Medicaid procedures, rather than cutting services to beneficiaries and providers.

In addition, the Arkansas Legislative Taskforce on Reducing Poverty and Promoting Economic Self Sufficiency this winter released a report with 31 policy recommendations to help working families to thrive. Many of them, including some of those listed above, would help ease the burdens of working families so they can move out of poverty. The complete Poverty Taskforce report is available at www.aradvocates.org/poverty.

Click here to download a pdf of the full report.