A Declaration of Independence:
Family Self– Sufficiency in Charlottesville, Virginia
│The Orange Dot Project Report, Updated│
By: Ridge Schuyler
September 9, 2014
Greater Charlottesville Area Development Corporation│209 5th Street NE│Charlottesville, VA 22902│ 434.295.3141
Established in 1979 to “help reduce unemployment and underemployment, and eliminate poverty”
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: DEFINING THE ISSUE ............................................................................................................................ 1
ISSUE .......................................................................................................................................................................... 2
TOO MANY STRUGGLING FAMILIES ..................................................................................................................................... 4
LOCAL INCOME DEFICIT ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
CHARLOTTESVILLE’S POPULATION ...................................................................................................................................... 6
FAMILIES IN CHARLOTTESVILLE ........................................................................................................................................... 7
FAMILIES BELOW THE FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL .......................................................................................................... 11
COMPARISON TO PRIOR YEARS........................................................................................................................................... 13
ISSUE CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................................... 13
Project Purpose
Our purpose is to help Charlottesville families who are striving to achieve self-reliance by helping to
create and identify jobs within their reach and positioning them to secure and excel in those jobs—real
jobs for real people.
Our approach is to amplify the effects of the region’s extensive support services and economic power by
deploying existing social networks to connect those resources more directly to the families struggling in
our community.
Part I: Defining the Issue
ISSUE
Over fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and
delivered his iconic I Have a Dream speech. Many forget that the throngs who gathered that
day were marching for “Jobs and Freedom” [emphasis added]. In that speech, Dr. King
lamented that there were too many Americans living “on a lonely island of poverty in the midst
of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”
Today, we remain surrounded by a vast ocean of material prosperity. Yet, here in
Charlottesville, 1,725 families (24 percent) do not make enough money to pay for the essentials
of life—food, shelter, clothing and utilities—and the added costs associated with working—
childcare and transportation. The vast majority of our struggling families consist of women and
their children. Absent a sustained and intentional effort, nearly half of these children born into
poverty will remain there the rest of their lives.1 As a result, many children in poverty become
parents in poverty.2
To escape this cycle, children need education beyond high school.3 If their parents are
struggling, however, these children face enormous obstacles in completing their education and
breaking the bonds of poverty.4
Ending the cycle of poverty, therefore, must include providing a pathway to self-sufficiency for
parents.
Constructing such a pathway requires effort greater than those forces that hold people back.
The effort needs to be grounded in the community, focused on the goal and supported over
time.
In 1966, a University of Virginia law school graduate travelled to South Africa to speak to a
group of South African students, struggling under the weight of Apartheid. This UVa graduate,
Robert F. Kennedy, spoke to the students about his vision for the world—a world, in his words
1
According to the Pew Charitable Trusts Economic Mobility Project, 42 percent of children born into the bottom
fifth of family income will be there for life. Sharkey, Patrick. Neighborhoods and the Black-White Mobility Gap.
Rep. Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009.
2
In this report, the term “poverty” is used guardedly. Poverty is a lack of wealth, not a lack of value.
3
Chances of escaping poverty are 30 percent higher for those with more than a high school diploma compared to
those who never graduated. Acs, Gregory and Zimmerman, Seth. U.S. Intragenerational Economic Mobility From
1984 to 2004: Trends and Implications, Rep. (Pew Charitable Trusts, 2008), Figure 5.
4
“Double Jeopardy: How Third Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation,” Hernandez,
Donald J. (Annie E. Casey Foundation: April 2011)
2
“of constantly accelerating economic progress—not material welfare as an end in itself, but as a
means to liberate the capacity of every human being to pursue his talents and to pursue his
hopes.”
We cannot begin to unleash the potential of those being left behind, however, without
understanding their circumstances. This report, Part I, quantifies the size and scope of the grave
financial conditions facing a surprising number of families in Charlottesville. This report includes
a pioneering method for gauging the extent of family poverty in the city. Part II will explore
potential solutions.
Among us are too many families struggling in poverty. Around us are the opportunities to end
those struggles. We need to harness those opportunities so families can seize them.
If it can’t be done here, it can’t be done anywhere.
3
Too Many Struggling Families
There are 7,261 families living in Charlottesville.5
Of these, 1,725 families (24 percent) do not make enough money to pay for the essentials of
life—food, shelter, clothing and utilities—and the added costs associated with working—
childcare and transportation. The vast majority of our struggling families consist of women and
their children. Here are the financial challenges families face in Charlottesville:
Expense of Living in Charlottesville6
Single Householder + 2 kids (1 toddler)
Annual
Monthly
Single Householder + 3 kids (1 toddler)
Weekly
Annual
Monthly
Weekly
Costs of Survival
Food
$
5,831.28 $
485.94 $
112.14
$
7,763.60 $
$
1,396.11
646.97 $
Clothing
$
1,056.11
Shelter
$
11,124.00 $
927.00
$
13,188.00 $
1,099.00
Utilities
$
2,645.22 $
220.44
$
3,017.22 $
251.44
Necessary Costs
$
4,131.32
$
5,072.99
Total Survival Income
$
24,787.94
$
30,437.92
149.30
Costs of Working
Transportation
$
240.00 $
20.00
$
240.00 $
20.00
Childcare
$
9,936.00 $
828.00
$
9,936.00 $
828.00
Total Working Income $
34,963.94
$
40,613.92
In order for a family to live independently in Charlottesville, a single parent with two children
would need to earn $35,000 a year. The single parent with three children would need to earn at
least $40,000 a year.
U.S. Census Bureau, 2008-2012. American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Family is defined as two or
more related people living in the same household.
6
Information sources:
Food: USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, "Official USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home at
Four Levels," Weekly Cost of the Low-Cost Plan, June 2013; Clothing: USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and
Promotion, "Expenditures on Children by Families, Estimated annual expenditures on a child by single-parent
families" and Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Consumer Expenditure Survey, Apparel and Services by Women, 16
and over;” Shelter: Department of Housing and Urban Development, "Fair Market Rent Documentation
System;" Utilities: Virginia Housing Development Authority "Utility Allowance Schedule," and the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, “Consumer Expenditure Survey, Telephone Services;” Necessary Costs: Bureau of Labor
Statistics and Census Bureau recommended formula; Transportation: Charlottesville Area Transit, monthly
bus pass; Childcare: Survey compiled by University of Virginia, Dean of Students, "Programs and Services,
Students with Children, Charlottesville/Albemarle Daycares and Pre-schools"
5
4
As noted above, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 24% of the families in Charlottesville
(1,725) do not earn an income that allows them to be self-sufficient. Over 600 families make
less than $15,000 a year.
The following table elaborates on the incomes earned by Charlottesville families.
Annual Family Income and
Benefits
Number of Charlottesville
Families
$0 - $9,999
408
$10,000 - $14,999
223
$15,000 - $24,999
446
$25,000 - $34,999
648
Total
1,725
Focusing on the actual income Charlottesville families bring home, and the actual costs of
surviving and working in Charlottesville, brings into sharp relief the scope of the solutions the
community needs to craft in order to help each of these families achieve financial selfsufficiency.
These disturbing numbers are sadly consistent with other data we have about families with
children in our city. In Charlottesville’s public schools, 53% of the students are eligible for free
and reduced lunches, a means-tested program that guarantees children receive nutritious food
at school.7
Similarly, and equally troubling, are the number of households in Charlottesville that receive
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The United States Department of
Agriculture offers the “SNAP” program to make sure that families also have access to nutritious
foods at home. In November 2013, 2,899 households in Charlottesville relied on SNAP benefits
to help feed their families.8
7
To be eligible for free and reduced lunches, a family of three must make less than $36,131 annually, which is
roughly the equivalent of the self-sufficiency income required for that family in Charlottesville. USDA Food and
Nutrition Service, Child Nutrition Programs, Income Eligibility Guidelines, 2013
8
Virginia Department of Social Services, “Foods Stamps Participation Report—Monthly,” January 2014. According
to national data, the overwhelming majority (62%) of families with children who received SNAP benefits were
5
Local Income Deficit
This report is the only one in the nation that quantifies a community’s local income deficit. The
annual local income deficit is the cumulative total of additional income families would need to
fill the gap between what they currently receive as income and what they would need to all
become financially self-sufficient. In Charlottesville, there are 1,725 families who do not earn
enough to sustain themselves financially. To grasp what would be needed to lift these families
to self-sufficiency, it is crucial to know the extent of the annual local income deficit.
The total income earned by these 1,725 families is between $25 and $41 million (an average of
$14,500-$23,900 per family). The total income these families need in order to be self-sufficient
is $60 million ($35,000 per family).
That gap—the annual local income deficit for Charlottesville—is between $19 and $35 million
annually.
To create a pathway from dependency to self-sufficiency for all of these families, the
community needs to implement an economic development strategy that will generate $20-$35
million in additional total annual income for these families.
Putting that local income deficit into perspective, it amounts to 2-3% of the current total annual
income earned by residents of Charlottesville, which in 2011 was $1.24 Billion. Our challenge is
to help create or identify jobs that will generate 2-3% more income than residents currently
earn, and connect the 1,725 families who are struggling with those jobs.
Charlottesville’s Population
This report focuses on families in Charlottesville, but of course Charlottesville is comprised of
more than just families. The reason for this focus is three-fold: by definition, the cycle of
poverty involves parents and children, so breaking the cycle of poverty necessarily requires a
focus on families; it is families with children that appear to be struggling the hardest in
Charlottesville; and by focusing on the families, we filter out the statistical effects that
university students have on data about Charlottesville.
According to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2008-2012), there were 43,223
people living in Charlottesville. Of that number, an estimated 12,800 were enrolled in college.
employed but did not earn enough income to provide nutritious food for their families. This number excludes the
elderly and disabled who receive SNAP benefits. Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, “The Relationship between
SNAP and Work Among Low-Income Households,” 2013
6
Of the remainder, 22,546 were in families and 7,877 were either living alone or with unrelated
roommates.
Census data about Charlottesville generally is compiled as either household data or as family
data. Household data, however, includes the 9,789 people who were enrolled in college but not
living in a dorm. Thus, looking at household income or household poverty rates would include
the typically meager income of college students, thereby skewing the true picture of the issues
facing Charlottesville.
Families, however, are defined by the census as related people living together in a household.
Since families are the ones struggling, and the majority of individuals in Charlottesville live in
families, it is appropriate to focus on them.
Families in Charlottesville
On the face of it, Charlottesville’s families appear to be doing fairly well. The median family
income in Charlottesville is $63,937. That’s comfortably above the income necessary for a
family to be independent. And it certainly explains why many people, especially from beyond
the city’s borders, would not even consider Charlottesville when identifying places where
people are suffering financial distress.
7
This map illustrates the point.
Looking beneath the surface, however, reveals a more startling and troubling circumstance.
Charlottesville is a city of roughly 10 square miles. Like any city, Charlottesville has many
neighborhoods located within its borders. In fact, the Census Bureau has divided the city into
12 different neighborhoods, known as census tracts.9 These tracts are roughly equal in
population and are bounded by major roads and railroad tracks.
The dotted lines in the map above show the 12 census tracts in Charlottesville.
9
In 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau combined two census tracts, formerly census tracts 1 and 3.01, into a new
census tract 10.
8
Looking at these neighborhoods separately, it becomes clear that the well-being of families is
not spread evenly across the city. While there are two neighborhoods where families are living
quite comfortably, there are others where families are clearly struggling.
9
These struggling families can be found throughout our ten-square mile city, but as this map
shows, they tend to be concentrated in a few neighborhoods.
10
Families Below the Federal Poverty Level
Even when measured by the antiquated and flawed "federal poverty level," which is well known
to understate the level of deprivation10, the situation in Charlottesville is serious. Fifteen
percent of all families with children under 18 live below the federal poverty threshold (505
families)11. The majority of these families are headed by a single mom. In fact, over 30 percent
of female-headed households with children under 18 in Charlottesville live below the paltry
federal poverty threshold (266 families). In one census tract, 65.9% of single mothers with
children live below the federal poverty level.
10
According to the Virginia Poverty Reduction Task Force, “the poverty threshold was developed in 1963, based on
a subsistence food budget and multiplied by three [on the theory that 1/3 of income should be spent on food], but
since then food costs have declined relative to other costs (for example, shelter), so that the multiplier
underestimates basic living costs. The poverty threshold for a family of four has consequently declined from about
50 percent of median income in 1963 to close to 25 percent of median income today.” Poverty Reduction
Taskforce. Poverty in Virginia: Recommendations from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Poverty Reduction Task
Force. Rep.
11
For reference, the federal poverty threshold for a family of three is $19,530.
11
As the charts below demonstrate more fully, while there are a substantial number of families
who fall below the meager federal poverty line (44%), there are even more who are working
poor, making above the poverty line but below the income required to be self-sufficient.
Income Status of Charlottesville Families
Charlottesville Families not Self-Sufficient
Above Poverty
but Not SelfSufficient, 56%
(963)
Below
Poverty, 44%
(762)
Source: American Community Survey 2008-20012 5-year estimates
12
Comparison to Prior Years
In order to understand where we are headed, it is helpful to see where we have been.
Charlottesville’s economy, like that of the nation, is slowly healing from the devastating Great
Recession, during which the American economy shed over 24,000 jobs every day for six months.
In 2011, the Orange Dot Project report described the situation facing Charlottesville families at
that time. Presented here is how the circumstances then compare with the circumstances now:
Charlottesville Circumstance
Number of families
7,099
2014 Charlottesville
Works
7,261
Number of families not self-sufficient
2,069
1,725
Percentage of families not selfsufficient
29%
24%
Families earning less than $10,000
423
408
Families earning $10,000-$14,999
170
223
Families earning $15,000-$24,999
795
446
Families earning $25,000-$34,999
681
648
$21,850,000$41,690,000
$19,059,107$35,192,790
$1,137,000,000
$1,240,000,000
2-3%
2-3%
Local Income Deficit
Total Charlottesville Resident Income
Local Income Deficit as a Percentage of
Total Local Income
2011 Orange Dot Report
Issue Conclusion
Clearly, the national economic rebound, albeit slow, has helped reduce the number of
struggling families to some degree (+/-5%). Still, over 1,700 Charlottesville parents struggle
every day to provide for themselves and their children. Many of those children are likely to face
the same struggles the rest of their lives. Helping people pull away from those gravitational
forces requires that we work as a community to help parents by reducing the annual local
income deficit. This effort will yield substantial benefits for their children.
13
APPENDIX:
MAPS
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5
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7
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9
10
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13