Report: Half of N. Carolina families with children don't make ends meet

Nearly half of the families with children in the state don't earn enough to pay for basic living expenses, according to a biennial report released Thursday by an advocacy group seeking economic assistance for the poor.

The report by the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center determined that 521,630 families with children, or 49.1 percent of the state, can't make ends meet based on "living income standards."

The living income standards, based on U.S. Census and other figures and developed in part with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, are the earnings levels equal to the true costs of being self-sufficient in urban or rural North Carolina.

.......

When people who "are below the living income standard and working about as (hard as) many people who are above the living income standard ... it sort of flies in the faces of what we consider to be fair," Quinterno said.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NC_LIVING_INCOME_NCOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-12-08-19-12-46

they'll just keep on votin' "red..."

Americans just die in it.

and we are just barely making ends meet - three years ago we were doing just fine - had another child, and this last year it has been feeling like we could lose our house at any minute....live on the coast so we just had another insurance hike due to the hurricane season adjustments - can I say how much I have hated this administration and the like since 2000? My husband and I have white collar jobs and I feel like the only security out there is if I work waiting tables like I did 20 years ago... damn, just too old for that crap!

and even worde for you. I hope that tyhings turn for the better for you are your family.
All the very best. May the Republicans who are bringing down the nation rot in hell (i.e. get voted out of office and soon; have any ill-gotten gains taken away; and serve gaol time for any crimes committed.)

money to pay for their tax breaks is beyond plain stupid, it's just plain redneck.

Don't you know, it doesn't matter that they have trouble paying the bills, buying weekly groceries and keeping their heads above water...because by golly, who cares about that kind of stuff...when the most important stuff is stopping those gays from taking over and stopping the abortions of innocent babies.

:sarcasm:

Millions are brainwashed by religion. They don't care about the long term because they really believe that Jesus will pick them up next week. I don't know what can be done to break the hold of religion on them!

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Hello, what part of the world are you from? And I did not vote for him, either here in NC or the first time in Louisiana.....

BTW - grew up in Northern Virgina so if you want to call that area redneck, just flame away.

Years ago (1988) I worked in NYC, Conn., NJ, etc. I saw more racism and a "redneck" attitude than I've seen in NC. BTW, been to Boston or Maine lately?

been all up and down the east coast - MD, NJ, NY and Conn, New Hampshire and even to Toronto (God, what a clean city) ....have relatives in PA, VA, GA, LA and SC and I closest I've ever been to a redneck was on my honeymoon in Lafayette, LA - Atchafalya Basin with a house boat, the man that ran the charters had the greatest accent - oops, that was cajun....

and know Lafayette well. Used to go to the Acadian Mall. Is it still there? Oh, and for the self righteuos, red neck callers, it's not pronounced "La Feet" it is pronounced "Laff aye yett"

I was on my honeymoon...never left the boat....But, yes, http://www.mallofacadiana.com/shop/acadiana.nsf it's still there. Lived outside of NO, can't really tell you what is there or not :cry: but Cafe du Monde is open and that's a good start.

and good luck. My thoughts are with you.

Yes the mall is still here, and it's Acadiana, not Acadian. Also, our fair city's name is pronounced laugh e et, probably the most mispronounced name in the nation, well, maybe.

I'm working on a 16 year memory of being there for 2 months. Great area. When Andrew came through there in 92? I saw coverage that showed the hotel I stayed in New Iberia was virtually destroyed. It was the Best Western near the main road to Lafayette.

redneck. NC has a Dem Gov named Mike Easley and we now have a $100 million surplus. So what's your point? Is it issues or your own stereotyping?

apparently we are rednecks. That pisses me off. Sorry, I'm in a mood. I love my state and some people don't realize that we have RTP. We have major Universities within a 30 mile radius (UNC, DUKE, NC State). I'm a UNC alum.

is a great place to live - but I still and will never consider myself or family members rednecks. Most of the people I know here are from other parts of the country, MD, VA, Ohio, Iowa, PA to name a few. Apparently living here was a better choice for them at some point in their life in order for them to move.

so they don't realize that NC is just like so much of the South and Midwest, in that the RURAL folk vote Republican and the URBAN folk vote Democrat, even in national elections. For example, Wake county (Raleigh), Durham county (Durham), Orange county (Chapel Hill), Guilford county (Greensboro), Forsyth county (Winston-Salem) and Mecklenburg county (Charlotte) are all among the counties in NC which Gore carried in 2000 and (in all except Forsyth) Kerry carried in 2004. And there are others.

On the other hand, there ARE rednecks in NC. I've lived in NC all my life, but always in a good-sized city, so I was spared <g>.

Another point to make is that many of the families that are in such dire straits in NC are folk not rural, but small-town, who are among the 50,000 that have lost jobs in textiles and furniture in the last five years. Many of these people went to work "in the mill" right out of high school (if that) and had worked there for thirty or forty years, getting to the point where they are making $16 or $18 per hour; now they're finding service jobs that pay $8 or $9 per hour. And yes, lots of these people voted for Bush. Why? Well, one of the reasons is that Bill Clinton pushed NAFTA, and this is why they lost their jobs. (Okay, let's not talk about how NAFTA just sped things up, this would have happened anyway, for the same reasons that the mill owners moved down to the Southeast from New England in the late 1800s: cheap labor.)

Last but not least, I doubt these numbers, anyway. According to the Census Bureau, the population of North Carolina is 8.5MM. If half a million families with children constitute 49% of all families with children in NC, then what is that saying? There are only 1 million families with children in NC? Most of the families with children of which I'm aware have two children, so is half the population of NC families (or singles) with NO children? Numbers seem questionable on the face of it to me.

Sorry, didn't mean to go on so long.

of all families in NC can't make ends meet? Why doesn't NC use some of that hundred million dollars to mitigate the "crisis" and I do believe it is a crisis when so many families can't pay their bills. Why is it just NC that has such a problem? What are the suggested solutions or have any Democrats even attempted to address the situation? You may suggest you are from a great Democratic state but the evidence tells a different story..NC is definitely listed as a Red State and the poor there don't seem to be doing all that well. Is anyone at all even aware there is such a problem?

voted for Bush.

Every poor person deserves to be poor.

If they were smarter (or better, or whiter, or more Christian, etc), they wouldn't be poor.

Where have I heard these arguments before....??

Oh yes...Free Republic :eyes:

Suffer the majority for the votes of a few. Great thinking there.

I'm sorry, I'm just a dumb redneck from NC that you assumed alot of us voted for Bush. I beg to differ. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts. What state do you live in?

that said something akin to "Good. the poor voted for bush, they're getting what they deserve"

btw--I grew up in south Carolina. My mother never made more than $9,000 a year untiL I was out of high school. I know about being poor. I am fucking poor. And my family is nothing but democrats.

They would not be suffering so hard.

And NC would be a solid Democratic win in every election.

If people who only vote in their self interest are selfish, then people who consistently vote against their self interest are ...?

"False consciousness" was the term, but that sounds too academic-leftish

Where are you from?

There is something wrong with poor people consistently voting against their own interests and for programs that favor the rich.

Accusing me of elitism doesn't change this.

Asking me where I'm from is irrelevant.

There is something wrong here, and questioning the motives of those who point it out only makes it worse.

I was in a mood and the redneck label rubbed me the wrong way. Sorry.:pals:

And do some research - not everyone in North Carolina voted for Bush.

Actual facts.

A detailed portrait of the American electorate, broken out by age, belief, geographical area, socioeconomics, everything except favorite ice cream flavor. It's by Pew Research, and it's designed with the layman/woman in mind.

http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/196.pdf

Among other things, it will show you how mistaken your broadbrush assertions were. But even if your generalizations weren't so completely wrong, I'd still say that no true progressive thinks compassion or aid should be given on the basis of preferred race, religion, or political affiliation. Discrimination sucks whichever way the knife cuts. Fellow humans deserve our compassion because they are fellow humans, period.

Peace.

Simply put the "Revolution" is being delayed because of cheap debt.

That study is not surprising in the least. N.C.'s economy was textiles and high tech. Both industries that are heading overseas.

John Edwards' "Two Americas" on display.

Grand prize package worth over $2M.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dream_home_tour_2006/

Here's what I wonder:

Seems a lot of people in our nation are having a harder time than ever making ends meet. How soon before all states have record statistics for the number of poor?

...purple.
I have a friend that moved back to NC from Michigan. She went to sleep on Nov. 2, of '04 thinking that Kerry/Edwards would be winners. IT WAS THAT CLOSE.

North Carolina could easily go blue this time. All they need is a candidate that talks straight.

and by your statements and logic, I doubt I give a shit. Your words, not mine.

Over-reaction...just sick of all warmongering macho violent, over-consuming Americans in general. apologies to North Carolinians, same as all the greedy Democratic GOP wannabees in this country

we're not all rednecks.

Why bother to say that much? Please tell me about the Utopia you live in.

Because the Democrats, especially in the South, think that they have to be "conservative" to win, and unfortunately, they interpret to mean not only being against gays and gun control but also being on the side of the corporations against the common people.

Why should people vote for a party which, they have been told, is against their social and behavioral beliefs, AND which never mentions their real concerns, such as low wages, no health care, poor quality day care, no affordable housing, poor and increasingly rigid schools (e.g. When Democrats ask for more funding for No Child Left Behind, they're irritating parents and teachers by throwing good money at a program that is taking all the joy out of school).

Anybody who wants to be elected president needs to speak to the real needs of ordinary Americans in specific ways and in terms that they can understand, not in wordy position papers that never get off the website. The candidate must really believe in the proposals he is making and have the determination to see them through.

When I think about all those families unable to make ends meet, I wonder how many are African=American. Sadly, I would guess that the number of AA families (D) is over-represented... :(

A lot of these folks (the ones who are struggling) are working-poor African-Americans AND whites, along with those who are no longer working (loss of manufacturing jobs, as referenced throughout this thread). What you are suggesting is certainly possible, and food-stamp statistics would support it (50% of those on food stamps are African-American), but on the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if it is proportional to the state's population; i.e., 70% white, 22% African-American, 8% "other."

Regardless, it is just another reminder that any progress made on fighting poverty since Johnson started his "other war" (war on poverty) is being rapidly undone by the Republicans. Nothing to surprise the people in this forum.

Republican-light doesn't work. Southern Dems need to run a socially moderate (don't want to rile the fundies up too much for no gain), pro-gun(ditto with the NRA), economically progressive platform to win back the South.

This is pathetic. Half of the families with children are living without the means to secure *basic* living expenses. I am sure this statistic would be comparable in ten other states as well.

They will just revise the numbers so that they DO make ends meet:)

This news story is more evidence that we're in the 2nd Great Depression.

From textiles to furniture to automotive parts to medical products, North Carolina factories have closed up and moved to other countries leaving employees struggling to find equivalent jobs. Today's Asheville paper has this article about another local company moving to Mexico:

"Since January 2003, more than 6,100 manufacturing workers in Western North Carolina have found out they’ll lose their jobs, according to the North Carolina Employment Security Commission and Asheville Citizen-Times news reports"

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051209/NEWS01/51208023/1001

Everyone knows THE ECONOMY IS BETTER THAN EVER!!!!!:sarcasm: (P.S. A blurb in yesterday's local rag said foreclosures are up 35% in Massachusetts.)

Here we go again with the Southern stereotypes. People, it is 2005 and the Civil War is long over! Not everyone in NC is a redneck. Rednecks are universal... yes, even in the Northeast and California! Not all poor people voted for Dumbya. NC has a lot of residents who have moved here from New England and Florida. Our cities are as varied and cosmopolitan as any in the country. We DO have liberals and people who are fighting for the rights of ALL citizens. Kerry got 44% of the vote last year. Our governor is a 2-term Democrat. Our state legislature has been controlled by Democrats for years. We have a great university system and one of the best community college systems in the country. And yes, I am a native North Carolinian, born and raised in a rural community, my grandparents had a chicken farm, my dad worked in a factory, and yet here I am with a masters degree and a liberal outlook, and I've been a registered Democrat since I was 18! I am also a gay man, so I am a stereotype-buster! LOL

because, of course, the republicans love the lower and middle classes, right?

either..and probably lots of other states too.

Not to mention the families without children. Heck, lots of families/households PERIOD don't make ends meet.

And we are amongst those. Hubby is on disablity (and in dialysis). I am quitting my job to insure that he can continue to receive MediCal and so I can take care of him. We are living on $1151/mo (=$13,812/yr). The only way we are able to survive is our housing expense is extremely low. Oh, and we live in CA, where everything, with the possible exception of produce, is more expensive.