Pockets of poverty growing

The 21st century has not been good to much of Rhode Island. From 2000 to 2014, real median family income across the state (in 2014 dollars) fell 2.4 percent to $73,217. Accompanying that decline has been an increase in the percentage of families with children below the poverty level, from 16.9 percent to 20.1 percent (a nearly 20 percent increase).

Of course, some communities saw real income gains in the last decade-and-a-half, led by Newport (+12 percent) and Jamestown (+10.4 percent). All told, 15 of the 37 communities that the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston returned data for (Little Compton and New Shoreham were not included) saw real increases in family income, and in 2014 the average for those towns and cities was $99,752.

Woonsocket saw the biggest drop in real family median income, 16.9 percent, to $45,277. In fact, among the 22 municipalities that saw real median family income fall, the average income was $72,854.

Communities that saw gains in family income have half as many families with children living below the poverty line – 8.4 percent to 16.6 percent – something that is to be expected. But the distribution was not even, with significant increases in children living in poverty occurring in a number of communities. For instance, in Jamestown 13.7 percent of families have children living in poverty, a nearly 900 percent gain on the 2000 level. Tiverton more than tripled the number of families with children living in poverty (8.9 percent in 2014), while Portsmouth saw its childhood poverty level rise from 2.7 percent to 6.6 percent.

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Clearly towns and cities that saw family income fall were more likely to see an increase in childhood poverty. But three communities have a significant amount of childhood poverty to deal with. Woonsocket, Central Falls and Providence have 42 percent, 41.9 percent and 39.7 percent, respectively, of families with children living in poverty.

If there is an economic resurgence coming, it won’t come a moment too soon for many Rhode Islanders. •

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