Report Finds Struggling Households in Hinds County

Jerrick Smith

Ed Sivak, director of the Mississippi Economic Policy Center says a new report by the Center for Community Economic Development gives families resources for economic stability.

by Tom Allin
June 11, 2010
Read the report (PDF, 2.1 MB)

When a man lost his job at a trucking company recently, he started having trouble covering his monthly expenses. Though he found a part-time job washing dishes at a local restaurant, it only paid a portion of his month expenses, but not his car note.

"It was at this point that we could have repossessed his vehicle, but instead we asked the member what could he afford to pay, based on his current income," explained Felicia Lyles, a branch manager for the HOPE Community Credit Union, in a June 9 audio press conference. The man had received his loan through HOPE's indirect lending program.

By adjusting the man's interest rate, HOPE made it possible for the man to better manage his budget and avoid a repossession.

"And most importantly, he was able to keep his vehicle so that he could continue to go to work and eventually find another job," Lyles said.

Nearly 22,000 or 32 percent of households in Hinds County are unable to cover all their basic needs, and under current Federal Poverty Guidelines, many of those households will go unserved.

That conclusion emerged from the new report, "Building Economic Stability for Mississippi Families," released this week by the Insight Center for Community Economic Development highlights nine Mississippi organizations--four of which, including HOPE CCU, are based in Hinds or Madison Counties and are working to help low income families.

The report builds on the organization's 2009 "Self Sufficiency Standard for Mississippi," which shows that the Federal Poverty Level an accurate measure of poverty.

Ed Sivak, director of the Mississippi Economic Policy Center, that houses the Self-Sufficiency Standard in Mississippi, defined the standard during the press conference.

"The Self-Sufficiency Standard calculates how much a family needs to earn in any county in the state and adjusts those needed earnings for family size and type," he said, adding that it "is basically a better measure because it measures how much it costs for people to make ends meet without any public or private assistance."

According to the Federal Poverty Guidelines, a family with two adults and an infant living in Hinds County making $18,310 a year or less is "poor." The Self-Sufficiency Standard indicates, however, that same family would needs to earn $36,479 annually to cover all its basic needs without any assistance.

As a result, while the Federal Poverty Line considers only 11,600 Hinds County households "poor," there are an additional 10,323 Hinds households earning more than the FPL but are below the self-sufficiency standard because they require assistance to cover basic expenses.

Adjusting for family size and affordability of different counties, the standard includes monthly costs for housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, taxes and other costs.

The Federal Poverty Line does not change with location, but the new report shows that costs--particularly housing--vary drastically based on location. For example, a two-adult-with-infant family has to pay $747 a month for housing in Hinds County, while the same family only can expect to pay $568 a month in Bolivar county--nearly a $200 difference.

"We have to look at alternative strategies for developing self sufficiency among the population," Oleta Fitzgerald, director of the Children's Defense Fund Southern Regional Office, explained during the press conference.

The report points to the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta and Hope Community Credit Union, the Children's Defense Fund, the Mississippi Council on Economic Education, and the Madison-based Sacred Heart Family Center in the tri-county area, and organizations in Mississippi that are using or planning to use the standard in the state to help families achieve economic self-sufficiency.

From developing a sewing cooperative to working with women in developing a transportation system in Yazoo County, Fitzgerald explained how the Children's Defense Fund works to help Mississippians achieve self-sufficiency.

"It is using the Self-Sufficiency Standard that we can very visibly show people, 'Look at where you are now and where you have to get in order to be able to sustain yourself and to work yourself out of poverty,'" Fitzgerald said.

The Mississippi Council on Economic Education, based at Millsaps College, aims to train K-12 teachers in Mississippi to teach their students grade-appropriate skills in economics, finance and entrepreneurship. The council also partners with the Mississippi Economic Policy Center to teach students how to use the standard.

Sivak explained during the call that educating students about self sufficiency and how to use the self-sufficiency calculator before or at the start of their careers would help make Mississippi more competitive in the long run. The same applies to adults looking to retrain.

With one in three Mississippi households struggling to pay for basic expenses, the report says the impacts on the state includes a reduced tax base; rising costs of health care, social services and criminal justice work; and slowed growth of an educated workforce.

Sivak said there is reason to be hopeful.

"One of the reasons that we're excited about this report is that it showcases ways that families have taken some actions and how resources have been used to move people up the economic ladder," he said.

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