McDowell's hard times not as hard as others'

Poorly speaking, it could be worse

By Steve Welker | Media General News Service
Published: November 29, 2009

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More than one out of every five people in 18 North Carolina counties lives in poverty, according to a report released last week by the N.C. Justice Center.
McDowell is not one of the 18, but the report lists other indicators of the intensifying financial pressure on local folks, such as more students enrolled in the Title I free and reduced-price meals program.
The N.C. Justice Center's report analyzes and compiles several sources of data from 2008 when, the Raleigh-based organization said, about one out of seven people in the state survived on incomes at or below the federal poverty level.
Robeson County southeastern North Carolina had the highest poverty level in the state at 31 percent. Its neighboring county, Scotland, was second at 29 percent, followed by Lenoir County (in central eastern North Carolina) at 26 percent.
The report says 15.9 percent of McDowell's residents in 2008 lived at or below the poverty level. That compares to 15.6 percent in Burke, 16.7 percent in Rutherford and 13.7 percent in Buncombe. Not all of the counties surrounding McDowell had numbers posted.
Many area counties had relatively high unemployment levels last year — 8.6 percent in McDowell in August 2008, 8.9 percent in Burke, 8.8 percent in Rutherford and 4.9 percent in Buncombe.
Also, most had low median household incomes compared to the statewide average, $46,549. McDowell County's median household income in 2008 was $35,114. Among surrounding counties, Burke's was $35,520; Rutherford's was $36,022; and Buncombe's was $43,640.
As the nationwide recession that began in December 2007 also tightened its stranglehold on North Carolina, the state's 2008 household income fell below what it had been eight years ago: $47,241 in 2001.
The N.C. Justice Center tracked food-stamp participation as another measure of financial hardship. In September 2008, 5,167 McDowell County residents — the county's total population is nearly 44,000 — received food stamps.
Another measure of poverty and financial stress is the federal Title I free and reduced-price meals program. The N.C. Department of Public Instruction's most recent data shows that 3,686 out of 6,385 McDowell students qualified for free or reduced-price meals.
Analyst Meg Gray Wiehe in the N.C. Justice Center's budget and tax division, who compiled its report, also looked at indicators of how 2009's snapshot of N.C. poverty will appear.
Joblessness is up sharply, to 14.4 percent in McDowell County in August 2009.
Food-stamp participation also is much higher. In McDowell County, the number of people receiving food stamps increased by more than 1,500 over the past year, to 6,778.
The North Carolina Justice Center in Raleigh is a nonprofit, progressive advocacy and research organization whose mission is, according to its Web site, "to end poverty in North Carolina by ensuring that every household has access to the resources, services and fair treatment it needs to achieve economic security."
On the Web: http://www.ncjustice.org