POVERTY IN TUCSON FIELD WORKSHOP

COMMUNITY FORUM

School of SociologyCollege of Social and Behavioral Sciences

University Libraries

May 15, 2015; Habitat for Humanity Tucson

2

Where Did We Go?

Stratified Sample of 8 High Poverty Census Tracts

4 Highest Poverty Rates

4 at City Average of Poverty Rates

Randomly Selected & Screened for Earning Less than 200% of Poverty Threshold

257 Valid SurveysConcentrated

Poverty (poverty rate 40+%)

Above average poverty rate (25.2 –

39.9%)

Who Did We Talk To?

3

Men; 41.5%

Women, 58.5%

Gender

Full-Time; 30.2%

Part-Time, 12.5%

Student; 10.6%

Unem-ployed; 17.3%

Retired/Other; 29.4%

Employment

< HS; 17.1%

HS, 25.3%

Some College; 39.3%

BA/BS; 9.7%

Education

4

Family Structure

Single Single Parent Cohabitating Married Divorced, Widowed, or

Other

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35% 32.3%

10.7%7.2%

23.9%25.9%

5

Extreme Poverty

Poverty Near Poverty

Student Poverty

Low Income Middle Income

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

13.1%

29.0%25.5%

10.4% 10.4% 10.4%

Income Levels

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Extreme Poverty

Poverty Near Poverty

Student Poverty

Low Income Middle Income

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35% 32.4%

20.0%

10.8%14.8%

3.7%7.4%

Are They Getting By? (Having Not Enough To Make Ends

Meet)

7

Extreme Poverty

Poverty Near Poverty

Student Poverty

Low Income Middle Income

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%78.3% 82.0%

61.2%

94.7%

45.0%

Housing Overburden (Spending >30% of Income on

Housing)R

enti

ng

Ren

tin

g

Ren

tin

g

Ren

tin

g

Ren

tin

g

Ow

n

Ow

n

Ow

n

Ow

n

Ow

n

8

Extreme Poverty

Poverty Near Poverty

Student Poverty

Low Income Middle Income

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

38.2%34.7%

16.9% 18.5%14.8% 14.8%

Food Insecurity (Cutting or Skipping Meals)

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Extreme Poverty

Poverty

Near Poverty

Low Income

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%

23.5%

22.7%

44.6%

66.7%

52.9%

52.0%

38.5%

22.2%

Use of Governmental Assistance

Never

Once

> Once

Every Month

10

14%

Social Security

71%

SNAP

21%

Social Security Disability Income

15%

EITC

Common Types of Governmental AssistanceAmong the Extreme Poverty and Poverty Groups

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Extreme Poverty

Poverty

Near Poverty

Low Income

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%

55.9%

65.3%

78.5%

88.9%

5.9%

10.7%

7.7%

Use of Charitable Assistance

Never

Once

> Once

Every Month

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THANK YOU!

To View All the Poster Presentations, Please Visit:

tinyurl.com/TucsonPoverty