Florida poverty: Destitution grows

During recent elections, candidates in Florida have been preoccupied with their polling numbers. But one set of profoundly troubling numbers ought to command everyone's attention.

Those numbers reflect the increase in Floridians who are now grappling with poverty, or struggling to avoid it.

Some 2.7 million people in the state now live below the federal poverty level, according to a report released by the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, a Tallahassee-based independent research organization.

That number reflects an increase of 550,000 since 2007.

Of that 2.7 million, 850,000 are children.

Of that 2.7 million, 1.2 million live in deep poverty.

That's an increase of 270,000 people who are subsisting on household incomes that are half or less than half of the 2009 federal poverty level - which is $10,956 for an individual and $44,366 for nine or more people.

Then there are those who aren't officially poor but are barely squeaking by: Of the state's 7 million households, 27 percent have incomes of $25,000 or less, according to the center.

Much of this destitution stems from obvious reasons.

Florida's unemployment rate is around 12 percent, due in large part to a national recession sparked by a mortgage meltdown, which crippled the state's main economic engines of growth and tourism.

But the state can't just hope for industries to get back on track if it is ever to lessen the poverty that will ultimately cost the state more in terms of welfare and corrections.

It must also address the structural issues that are fueling it - such as a high school graduation rate that continues to languish at 65 percent, which puts it among the 11 states and the District of Columbia that graduate less than 70 percent of its students.

Let's hope candidates for political office have this issue on their radar - because if it isn't, they'll wind up representing a state that will have a whole lot of suffering along with all the sunshine.

The two just don't go well together.

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via jacksonville.com