KJ highest US poverty rate, census says

[China]

KJ highest US poverty rate, census says (http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090130/NEWS/901300361)

Expert on Hasidic communities says large families, poverty linked

By Matt King
January 30, 2009

KIRYAS JOEL — This village has always had the distinction of being a cultural and religious enclave, but now it can add another:

Kiryas Joel is the poorest place in the country.

According to the latest round of U.S. Census figures, released late last year, the village has the highest poverty rate in the nation, and the largest percentage of residents who receive food stamps. Only one other place in the 50 states has a lower median income. The median household income in Kiryas Joel is $15,848; in Carbondale, Ill., it's $15,799.

More than two-thirds of Kiryas Joel residents live below the federal poverty line and more than 40 percent receive food stamps, according to the American Community Survey, a U.S. Census Bureau study of every place in the country with 20,000 residents or more.

That makes the village poorer than crumbling big cities like Detroit and noted slums like East St. Louis, and by far the poorest place in the mid-Hudson.

The poverty rate in Newburgh, the next-poorest place, is 28 percent. Regionwide, it's about 11.5 percent. Places in the country with poverty rates similar to Kiryas Joel are mostly college towns with large populations of students who don't have full-time jobs.

Village officials did not return calls seeking comment, but an expert in Hasidic communities said the poverty figures are tied strongly to the village's religious culture and mores.

Pressure to have many children and the demand to send them to expensive private schools, combined with a low number of people who go to college or leave the village to get higher-paying jobs, produces a static and poor society, said Samuel Heilman, professor of Jewish studies at Queens College.

"This is a population that sees childbirth as a sign of high status and for women a fulfillment of their divine and socially sanctioned role in life," Heilman said. "They are also an insular community that see life on the inside superior to the outside."

Poorest places in the country and local results

Poverty rate

Kiryas Joel: 68 percent
Athens City, Ohio: 52 percent
State College, Pa.: 50 percent
Newburgh: 28 percent
Kingston: 19 percent
Middletown: 17 percent
Sullivan County: 13.9 percent
Ulster County: 11.6 percent
Orange County: 10.9 percent


Food stamp usage

Kiryas Joel: 41 percent
East St. Louis, Ill.: 40 percent
Prichard City, Ala.: 38 percent
Newburgh: 20 percent
Kingston: 12 percent
Middletown: 9 percent


Marriage rate of women ages 15-50

Kiryas Joel: 80 percent
Linton Hall, Va.: 78 percent
Fort Bragg, N.C.: 77 percent
Middletown: 42 percent
Kingston: 42 percent
Newburgh: 35 percent


Median age

Kiryas Joel: 14.4
Lakewood, N.J.: 20.4
Fort Hood, Texas: 20.6
Newburgh: 26.4
Middletown: 30.4
Kingston: 35.7


Source: American Community Survey, www.census.gov/acs/www/


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[BigMike619]

Orange County? That cant be the California OC.

And should I not be shocked that state college, PA is on that list?

15K is horrible. But how did one town slip so far below like that?

[zoony]

Yah but they all have diamonds in their pants.

[zoony]

This sounds similar to those LDS compounds out west where they have huge families and do every dodge in the book to get as much government assistance as possible.



FLDS, not LDS.

But what they do is the men take multiple wives. And since the marriages are in the church only, the government recognizes all of these women as single mothers with 3 kids each with no income. So they collect their food stamps and checks and build very large nice homes to live in.

The FLDS refers to it as "bleeding the beast". The beast of course being the Fed Gov.

Keep working folks! Your tax dollars at work.

[stanleys]

Orange County? That cant be the California OC.

And should I not be shocked that state college, PA is on that list?

15K is horrible. But how did one town slip so far below like that?

State College is a statistical anomaly. The borough itself, which is what was measured, is mainly comprised of students. Something like 70% of the population is between 18 and 25. The surrounding townships are some of the wealthiest in the state though and are one of the few areas in the country where home values are still increasing.

[BigMike619]

State College is a statistical anomaly. The borough itself, which is what was measured, is mainly comprised of students. Something like 70% of the population is between 18 and 25. The surrounding townships are some of the wealthiest in the state though and are one of the few areas in the country where home values are still increasing.

if its students then shouldnt it be a given that most of them are poor?

not being a smart ass either....i know when i was that age and trying to do ANYTHING i was broke most of the time.

[stanleys]

if its students then shouldnt it be a given that most of them are poor?

not being a smart ass either....i know when i was that age and trying to do ANYTHING i was broke most of the time.

What I meant was that State College is an anomaly for as far as this methodolgy producing an accurate portrait of an area of "poverty".

While technically these students are living below the poverty line, most hardly fit the definition of what we usually consider as living in poverty.

State College is almost unique in that it truly is a college town. Without the university, their population would probably be measured in the hundreds whereas most other universities of that size were towns before the school was build.

[BigMike619]

What I meant was that State College is an anomaly for as far as this methodolgy producing an accurate portrait of an area of "poverty".

While technically these students are living below the poverty line, most hardly fit the definition of what we usually consider as living in poverty.

State College is almost unique in that it truly is a college town. Without the university, their population would probably be measured in the hundreds whereas most other universities of that size were towns before the school was build.

I get what you meant bud and was actually agreeing with you. I dont think they should be listed or considered.