Factbooks Home | Overview |Family and Community | Economic Well-Being | Health
Safety | Education | Methodology | Acknowledgements

DEFINITION

Median household income is the median annual income for Rhode Island households. The median income is the dollar amount which divides the income distribution into two equal groups - half with incomes above the median and half with income below the median.

SIGNIFICANCE

The median household income provides one measure of the ability of Rhode Island's families to meet the costs of food, clothing, housing, health care, transportation, child care, and higher education. In 1994, one-half of all Rhode Island families with children earned less than $37,369 and one-half earned more.¹

The manufacturing sector, which once provided relative prosperity for a broad middle class of unskilled and semi-skilled workers, is being replaced by a service economy.² As the economy shifts to low paying jobs without benefits or higher paying jobs that demand advanced education and skills, it is increasingly difficult for many families with children to make end meet. In Rhode Island in 1994, one in three households had a household income less than $25,000.³

In 1995, as in almost every year since 1973, real wages fell for full-time, year-round workers. Recent increases in median family income are largely the result of two-earner households and/or increases in the numbers of hours worked.⁴ There is still a disparity in earning between women and men. Women tend to obtain jobs that offer the least pay and the most insecurity. Women's earnings are below those for men in every occupational category for full-time, year-round workers.⁵ Women often have sole or primary responsibility for caregiving; the less families earn, the higher the proportion of income spent on child care.6

Wages and Earnings in Decline Since the 1970's

Median Family Income of Young Families* with Children by Educational Attainment of the Family Head, United States, 1973 and 1990 (in 190 dollars).

*Young families are those headed by someone younger than 30.

Wages and earnings at the lowest level of the labor market - primarily low-skilled workers - have collapsed over the past two decades. The hourly wage rate for a person with a high school degree has fallen in real dollars by 30 percent since the early 1970's. A high school diploma only, without a college degree, no longer offers a path to economic security.

Source: Children's Defense Fund and Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies, Vanishing Dreams: The Economic Plight of America's Young Families (1992). Washington DC: Children's Defense Fund.

Child Support Affects Family Income

The failure of an absent parent to pay child support has significant economic consequences for a parent raising a child or children alone.

84,021 Rhode Island children are currently in the State's Child Support Enforcement System. Of these, 20,731 Rhode Island children have not yet paternity established and therefore receive no child support. Court orders for child support require the establishment of paternity.

Even where there is a child support agreement in place, child support payments tend to be low and unreliable. Of absent parents under court order, only 36% make child support payments on time and in full.

As of December 31, 1996, the amount past due on court ordered child support totaled $200 million dollars. This figure does not include the potential additional $56 million associated with the cases for which paternity had not yet been established.

Source: RI Department of Administration, Division of Taxation, Child Support Enforcement, 1996.

Cost of Rent

  DEFINITION

Cost of rent is the percentage of income needed by a low-income renter to cover the average cost of rent, including heat, in a community. Generally, rent burdens over 30% are considered unaffordable.¹ A low-income renter is defined as income 30% below the 1996 median renter income.²

SIGNIFICANCE

Data from the 1993 American Housing Survey indicates that the shortage of affordable housing for low-income renters is now wider than ever before. The number of low-cost units has fallen while the number of low-income families has grown.³ In Rhode Island there are nearly two low-income renters for every low-rent unit. Sixty-none percent of Rhode Island's low-income renter households spend 30% or more of their income on housing, and 49% of low-income renters spend more than half of their income on rent.⁴

The shortage of safe, affordable housing has resulted in thousands of Rhode Island families living in substandard housing. Much of the state's rental housing stock is more than fifty years old, and many units are in need of repair. Serious housing and building code violations - including roach and rodent infestation, lead exposure, faulty wiring, inadequate heating systems, and unsanitary plumbing problems - threaten the health and development of children.⁵

The shortage of affordable apartments and the dwindling number of housing subsidies has caused many Rhode Island families to "double-up", resulting in overcrowded, unstable living conditions. With a large percentage of family income going toward rent, any interruption in income or unexpected expense can place families at risk of homelessness.

In 1996, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Rhode Island was $590.

Source: Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation January, 1997. Median renter income is from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, 1996.

Shortage of Affordable Housing
Affects Children's Health Education

  According to a series of studies conducted at Boston City Hospital, many families have to choose between paying for rent (and heat) and feeding their children, especially during the winter months. Children in families without rent subsidies were more likely to have iron deficiencies and inadequate weight than children who lived in subsidized apartments. These children were also more likely to be underweight in the 90 days following the coldest month of the year.⁶ In Rhode Island only 27% of families receiving AFDC benefits receive a rental subsidy.⁷

A rapid succession of moves due to an unstable living situation has a negative impact on a child's education. Rhode Island educators, particularly in the core cities, report a rise in the number of students moving in and out of their school communities during the course of an academic year. The more children move, the more likely they are to drop out of school, regardless of family income, ethnicity, or parents' marital status.⁸

Children in Poverty

DEFINITION

Children in poverty is the percentage of related children under age 18 who live in families below the poverty threshold, as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. "Related children" include the head of the family's children by birth, marriage, and adoption, as well as other persons under age 18 who are related to the family head, and live in the home, such as nieces and nephews.

SIGNIFICANCE

In 1994, almost one in five Rhode Island children lived in poverty. Eighty percent of Rhode Island's children were white; yet, black, Hispanic and native American children were three time as likely to be living in poverty.¹ Children most at risk of not achieving their full potential are children in poverty, regardless of race.² Poverty is related to every KIDS COUNT indicator. Children who grow up in poor families are more likely to go without necessary food and clothing, lack basic health care, live in substandard housing, and have unequal access to educational opportunities.³

In 1996, the official poverty level for a family of four was $15,600. This is less than half the median family income for Rhode Island families with children.4 almost half of all poor children in Rhode Island in 1994 lived in families in which one or both parents worked full or part time.5 Over time, many more people are poor than the official poverty line suggests. There is considerable movement into and out of poverty each year.6 Those living with incomes close to the poverty line are vulnerable to falling below the poverty line due to changes in employment, housing and utility costs, and life changes such as the birth of a child, changes in marital status, and illness or disability.7

Rhode Island's Poor Children, 1994

In 1994, there were 39,390 poor children in Rhode Island, 18% of all Rhode Island children. This is and increase from 1990 when 14% of children lived in poverty.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Survey, 1992-1996 average and 1990 Census of Population.

Young Children in Poverty, Rhode Island, 1994

Research shows that the quality of a child's environment and social interactions in the early years affect brain development, producing lifelong impacts on learning, social skills, and mental health.⁸

The experience of poverty has particularly damaging effects in early childhood. Young children in poverty are more likely to experience delays in their physical, cognitive, language, and emotional development, which in turn affects their readiness for school.⁹

in 194, almost half of Rhode Island's poor children were under age 6. One in five Rhode Island children under the age of six was living in poverty.¹⁰

As of December 1, 1996, there were 16,775 young children under age 6 receiving benefits through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.¹¹ Special attention to the well-being of these children is important as the AFDC program is eliminated and Rhode Island creates a new support program for needy families under the recently enacted state and federal welfare reform laws.

Young children born into poverty are more likely to...12

be born with low birthweight;
die in infancy or early childhood;
be hospitalized during childhood;
receive lower quality medical care:
experience hunger and malnutrition;
be victims of or witnesses to violence;
be exposed to environmental toxins.

 

Investments in Young Children Improve Outcomes

According to a recent Carnegie Corporation report, Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children, investments in the first three years of life improve child outcomes and reduce costs to society. To support families with young children, the report recommends investments in several areas, including:¹³

Early Prenatal Care
Timely and comprehensive prenatal care significantly increases the likelihood of delivering a healthy infant of normal birthweight. Prevention of low birthweight reduces medical care costs in the first years of life and reduces costs for special education in the school-age years.

Health Care for Children
Comprehensive health care for children includes preventive care, acute care, immunizations, lead screening, preventive dental care, vision and heating tests, developmental and behavioral assessments, and parent education and counseling.

Quality Child Care and Early Education
Families need reliable child care options that provide caring, consistent relationships and create environments where young children can learn and flourish. Quality early care and education benefits children from both high-risk and low-risk family backgrounds.

Poor Children Under Age 6 in the U.S.,
by Source of Family Income, 1994

Total number of children in poverty is 6.1 million.

Source: National Center for Children in Poverty, One in Four (1996), New York: Columbia University, School of Public Health, National Center for Children in Poverty.

Working With Poor Families

In 1994, 46% of poor families worked full or part-time.¹⁴ Factors related to poverty among working families include the predominance of service and retail jobs that pay lower wages, the declining value of the minimum wage, and the inability to find full-time, year-round work.¹⁵

A person working 40 hours per week at the Rhode Island minimum wage of $5.15 per hour will earn $10,712 annually, about two-thirds of the 1996 poverty level income of $15,600 for a family of four.

Federal and state efforts to reform the current AFDC system include linking cash assistance to participation in the labor force. Sustainable employment requires jobs and supports that provide adequate resources for child care, health insurance, and transportation. Part-time, temporary or seasonal work, and non-traditional work shifts make child care arrangements fragile.

The Rhode Island Family Independence Act seeks to increase the economic security of low-income working families by expanding health care coverage and child care subsidies, and allowing recipients to keep more of their earnings before cash assistance is decreased or terminated.

The Earned Income Tax Credit is a credit on the federal income tax, available since 1975, to low-income and moderate-income working families with children. The EITC increases the income available to working poor families and helps to bring minimum wage earners up to the poverty threshold (when combined with Food Stamps).¹⁶

Children Receiving AFDC

DEFINITION

  Children receiving AFDC is the percentage of children less than age 18 who were living in families enrolled in Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) on December 1, 1996. These data measure the number of children an families participating in AFDC at one point in time. They do not count the additional children and families qualified for the program at other points in the year but were not enrolled on December 1, 1996.

SIGNIFICANCE

AFDC is an income support program for 38,844 Rhode Island Children, almost half of whom are under the age of six. Children make up two-thirds of the AFDC caseload; families enrolled in AFDC have an average of two children. One in six Rhode Island children less than 18 receives AFDC benefits. In the cities of Providence and Central Falls, one in three children less than age 18 receives AFDC benefits.¹

Cash assistance through the AFDC program has a significant impact on the ability of poor families to provide food, shelter, and clothing for their children. The average monthly AFDC benefit for a Rhode Island family of three is $554 per month. With an additional average of $264 per month in Food Stamps, the average monthly combined benefit is $818. This amount is 25% below the poverty line of $12,980 for a family of three. Only 27% of current AFDC recipients receive housing subsidies.² While cash benefits alone do not lift families out of poverty, they provide a minimal subsistence for poor families.

Recently enacted federal law eliminates the sixty year-old AFDC program and replaces it with block grants to the states, which will administer their own welfare programs. As new welfare programs are designed and implemented, it will be important to monitor the changes to be sure that children do not become more impoverished than they already are under the existing system.

Federal and State Welfare Reform Laws

On August 22, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation act of 1996 which makes significant changes in many public benefits programs, including Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The federal welfare law repeals the AFDC program and replaces it with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF).

The federal law institutes a five-year limit for receipt of cash assistance and other benefits, reduces Food Stamp benefit levels, and makes many disabled children ineligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) cash benefits. The federal law severely limits the eligibility of legal immigrants to a variety of federally-funded programs, including Food Stamps and Supplemental Security Income for the disabled.

Under the federal welfare reform law, states are free to develop their own programs for the support of needy children. Rhode Island's welfare reform program, including eligibility rules, is set forth in the Rhode Island Family Independence Act (FIA). The FIA was passed by the RI General Assembly and signed by Governor Almond in August 1996, a few weeks prior to the enactment of the federal law.

The Rhode Island Family Independence act provides cash assistance without time limits to all eligible children; sets a five-year time limit on the receipt of cash assistance for adults; allows two-parent and single parent families to obtain assistance; allows working recipients to keep more of their earnings before cash assistance is decreased or terminated; and expands child care subsidies and health coverage for low0income working families.

Measures of Success for Welfare Reform

Assists Families in Obtaining Sustainable Work
and Moves Them Out of Poverty

  Welfare reforms that increase family income by moving families into sustainable jobs are likely to benefit children. Poverty has a negative effect on child well-being, whether a family is poor because of reliance on income-support programs such as AFDC or because of the inadequacy of earned wages.³

The Rhode Island Family Independence Act seeks to increase family income by allowing parents to keep more of their earnings before cash assistance is decreased or terminated. In addition, two-parent families can receive assistance if they meet eligibility criteria.

Different educational backgrounds require different strategies to successfully enter the labor market. Having prior work experience, a high school diploma and job training all increase the likelihood that AFDC recipients will find work.⁴

The Rhode Island Family Independence Act seeks to promote entry into sustainable jobs by providing assistance with job placement as well as connecting parents to English-language programs, literacy programs, vocational education, and post-secondary education.

Components of the RI Family Independence Act Provide Access to a Range of Supports Needed By Low-Income Families

For many low-income families, AFDC has traditionally provided an entry point into other support programs (such as Food Stamps and WIC) as well as access to medical assistance, Head Start, subsidized child care, and other social service systems.⁵

As AFDC is dismantled, it will be important to extend outreach to families eligible for a range of public assistance benefits and social services. If participation in other related benefits programs drops due to lack of information, outreach, or funding, the growth and development of children who rely on these programs could be jeopardized.

The Rhode Island Family Independence Act (FIA) seeks to make health care and child care affordable to Rhode Island's working families, whether or not they receive cash assistance. The FIA makes full or partial child care subsidies available to all working families with incomes less than 185% of poverty, and expands health coverage to children age 8 to 18 if they live in families with incomes less than 250% of poverty.

 
Supports the Healthy Development of Children

As of December 1, 1996, four out of every five children receiving AFDC were age 12 or under. Welfare reforms that provide children with high-quality child care and increase access to health care, will have positive impacts on child well-being.⁶

The Rhode Island Family Independence Act seeks to maintain and enhance the child care supply by providing child care subsidies to working families, extending health care coverage through RIte Care for certified family child care providers who care for low-income children, and increasing the reimbursement rate for licensed child care providers by 5%.

The safe and healthy development of children requires quality standards for the licensing and regulation of child care providers, including family child care providers. Research show that low-quality child care has significant negative impacts on the growth and development of children, especially low-income children.⁷

Supports the Caregiving Capacity of Parents

Parents need good quality affordable child care in order to make a successful transition to sustained employment. Welfare reforms that do not comprise the caregiving role of parents are likely to be most protective of the well-being of children. Single parents, parents with non-traditional work hours, disabled caregivers, and parent of disabled children may need additional support.⁸

Under the Rhode Island Family Independence Act, a parent with a youngest child under age 1 is exempt from the work requirement; appropriate child care must be available for al children under age 13 before a parent is required to fulfill work requirements.

Table 6: Young Children in Families Receiving AFDC, Rhode Island, December 1, 1996.

Table 7: Number of Children Under 18 Receiving AFDC, Rhode Island, December 1, 1996.

Children Receiving Food Stamps

DEFINITION

  Children receiving Food Stamps is the percentage of income-eligible children under age 18 who participate in the Food Stamp program.

SIGNIFICANCE

 The Food Stamp program provides coupons which can be used for the purchase of specific foods at retail stores. Research show that participation in the Food Stamp program increases a family's ability to purchase an adequate low-cost diet and helps low-income households achieve better nutritional intake. ¹ To qualify for Food Stamps, households must have incomes at or below 130% of poverty and meet requirements which limit the value of assets, such as cash and automobiles. The federal government pays 100% of Food Stamp program benefits and 50% of administrative costs. The program is an entitlement program, meaning that federal funding is provided to all participants who meet eligibility requirements.

There are 45,830 children in Rhode Island who receive benefits from the Food Stamp program, as of December 1, 1996. Almost half of all food stamp recipients in Rhode Island are children under age 18.²

Food Stamp Participation by Age,
Rhode Island, December 1996

Source: RI Department of Human Services,
INRHODES Database, December 1, 1996.

Rhode Island Children Receiving Food Stamps

64% of Rhode Island children who live in families that meet the income eligibility requirement for Food Stamps participate in the program. These participation rates are comparable to national rates.³ Barriers to participation among eligible families with children can include lack of information about how to apply for the program, perceived stigma, and difficulties with transportation to local offices.⁴

Families receiving food stamps often run out of food before the end of the month.⁵ The average monthly food stamp benefit of $264 for a family of three, represents about 75 cents per person per meal, rarely enough to meet the total food requirements for a family. A 1993 survey of people using emergency food pantries and soup kitchens in Rhode Island indicates that 57% received food stamps that ran out before the end of the month.⁶

Four out of five children receiving food stamps live in families that also receive AFDC benefits.⁷ The combined benefits of AFDC and food stamps leave a family 25% below the poverty line.

As AFDC is reshaped by welfare reform legislation, it will be important to provide outreach so that families who are eligible for the Food Stamp program still apply. Research shows that families eligible for food stamps that do not participate in AFDC are less likely to access the Food Stamp program.⁸

Children Receiving School Breakfast

DEFINITION

  Children receiving school breakfast is the percentage of public school children eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch who attend schools offering the School Breakfast program. Half-day kindergarten, private schools, and residential child care facilities are not included in the calculations.

SIGNIFICANCE

 Undernutrition during any period of childhood can have a detrimental impact on a child's cognitive development. The longer a child's nutritional needs go unmet, the greater the risk of cognitive impairment.¹ Children who participate in the School Breakfast program have better school attendance, are more likely to arrive at school on time, and have higher standardized test scores than non-participants. Low-income students more more likely than other students to arrive at school without an adequate breakfast.² The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs provide nutritious meals to children at participating schools. Meals must meet specific nutritional requirements to qualify for federal funds.

Eligible students receive free or reduced-price meals though the School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. To receive a reduced-price meal, household income must be below 185% of the poverty level. For free meals, household income must fall below 130% of poverty. Children in Food Stamp and AFDC households are automatically eligible for free meals. 45,689 public school students received free or reduced-price lunches in 1995.

Access to School Breakfast in Rhode Island

One indicator of success in the School Breakfast Program is the number of schools offering the program. Only if a school participates can a student receive the meal. Only 124 out of 309 Rhode Island public schools (40%) offer the program, compared to 71% across the nation.³

While federal and state funds are available to support the cost of the School Breakfast Program, there are 15,505 eligible low-income students who do not have access to school breakfast because they attend one of the 185 Rhode Island public schools that do not participate in the School Breakfast Program.⁴

Schools can maximize student participation in the School Breakfast Program by providing information to parents and students before the program is initiated; reducing the stigma by promoting the program to all children; marketing to students through attractive posters, leaflets and announcements; and encouraging community, parent and student involvement in all aspects of the program.^5,6

Feeding Children When School is Out

The Summer Food Service Program for children provides nutritious meals to low-income students during the summer months. Like School Breakfast, this program is an entitlement program funded entirely by federal funds.

Only 9 communities in Rhode Island offer the Summer Food program, primarily due to limited awareness of the program on the part of potential participants and community sponsors. Eligible sponsors include playground programs, Housing Authorities, Boys and Girls Clubs, churches, recreation centers, schools, and other community organizations.