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How Detailed Data Analysis Reveals the True Face of Suburban Poverty

Telling the Full Story – . How Detailed Data Analysis Reveals the True Face of Suburban Poverty. September 26, 2013 Presented by: Michael L. Hanley Empire Justice Center Rochester, New York mhanley@empirejustice.org. Generalized suburban poverty data may– . Give an incomplete picture

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How Detailed Data Analysis Reveals the True Face of Suburban Poverty

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  1. Telling the Full Story – How Detailed Data Analysis Reveals the True Face of Suburban Poverty September 26, 2013 Presented by: Michael L. Hanley Empire Justice Center Rochester, New York mhanley@empirejustice.org

  2. Generalized suburban poverty data may– • Give an incomplete picture • Give a misleading picture • Miss the most important story

  3. A detailed look at the poverty data will allow you to: • Describe the important variations • Make sure your story does not mislead • Explain how the nature of the problem differs depending on the people and areas you are looking at

  4. Venn Diagram Illustrating the Difficulty of Describing “Suburban Poverty”: THE DETAILS THE DEVIL

  5. What are the “details” that you need to pay attention to? Not surprisingly, it is the “Who, What, When, Where” of the story: • Who are you looking at? • All people? All households? Just families? Single mothers? The elderly? Persons with disabilities? Minorities?

  6. What are the “details” that you need to pay attention to? • What level of poverty are you talking about? • At the poverty line? Below the poverty line? • Below twice the poverty line? • Numbers or percentages?

  7. What are the “details” that you need to pay attention to? • When – i.e. What period of time are you talking about? • Just the recent changes? Longer term patterns? Since the Great Recession? • Five year data or just the latest figures?

  8. What are the “details” that you need to pay attention to? • Where – • National and State data? County level? Towns and Villages? Zip Codes? Census Tracts? Neighborhoods?

  9. What are the “details” that you need to pay attention to? • Not just “poverty,” but “poverty-related” issues: • Crime and Violence • Child Care • School performance; graduation rates • Health care access and health outcomes • Housing affordability and quality • Physical Accessibility • Etc., etc., etc. . . . • “Suburban” poverty is not the • same thing as “urban” poverty

  10. The Silver Lining? • Increases in suburban poverty can be a good thing: • When poverty is spread out, the impact on everyone is diminished; • Lower income families and children in suburban areas may have better educational and employment prospects; • Health concerns related to housing conditions may be fewer; • Safety concerns related to crime may be lessened

  11. For social context on the critical issues, and to identify experts on specific topics, check out: Poverty & Race Research Action Council http://www.prrac.org The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities http://www.cbpp.org The Opportunity Agenda: http://opportunityagenda.org Policy Link: http://www.policylink.org

  12. So, where’s the data? The most complete, detailed and accurate data is from the Census Bureau.They have wonderful data access online through “American Factfinder 2” -- --but it can be difficult to use at first! Check out the official Census Bureau tutorial: • http://factfinder2.census.gov/legacy/quickstart.html OR, try an “unofficial” tutorial: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeCuLzM3jQw OR , get a PDF hard copy guide from the MIT Library: • http://libraries.mit.edu/files/gis/factfinder.pdf OR, you can access a commercial service, for example: • http://www.socialexplorer.com/

  13. So, where’s the data? • Variations in Poverty Concentrations: • To understand the poverty issues and variations in a given community, it may be helpful to take advantage of some readily available websites that illustrate local variations in poverty concentrations. • From there you can start to explore the factors that account for the variations and the implications of the patterns. • Two good cites for a “quick look” are the New York Times census map website and another called “Rich Blocks, Poor Blocks” -- • http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer • http://www.richblockspoorblocks.com

  14. Also, for data on school enrollments (a good “trend” indicator), check out the NATIONAL CENTER ON EDUCATION STATISTICS: http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch

  15. NCES DATA IS AVAILABLE BY DISTRICT OR BY INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL, AND INCLUDES CHARTER AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS. HERE’S A SAMPLE OF THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL DATA AVAILABLE: FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH = 80% (COMPARE TO CENSUS TABLE B14006)

  16. The New York Times Census Project: http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer CLICK ON “VIEW MORE MAPS”

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