Posted: 3/13/2007 2:47:35 PM EDT
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Each of us faces 50 percent chance of poverty Journal explores effect in Tompkins County in 2007 By Jennie Daley Journal Staff ITHACA — One Cornell University professor’s research shows that each American has a 50 percent chance of living in poverty for at least a year. Tom Hirschl, a professor in the Department of Sociology, did a statistical analysis in 2001 of people 25 to 75 years old and found there was an equal chance that anyone could experience a year in poverty or a year of affluence over the course of their lives. "America is a dream and a nightmare at the same time," Hirschl said. Whether we require services or help pay for them, all of us are affected. The Ithaca Journal will explore the impact of poverty in Tompkins County throughout 2007. A special report will be published on Saturday in The Ithaca Journal and online at www.ithacajournal.com. Hirschl’s study challenges a belief that poverty is something reserved for the lower classes and an unfortunate few. Hirschl’s research shows that the hardships of poverty can impact a much larger portion of the population than many would assume. "Poverty has often been portrayed as being confined to disenfranchised groups in the United States," wrote Hirschl. "Applying a life-course perspective reveals that this view is both incomplete and misleading." Hirschl used the Panel Study on Income Dynamics to reach this conclusion. The data set began in 1968 with 4,800 families and has since expanded to follow those family members and the families they’ve formed over the years. The PSID allows researchers an opportunity to take a life-course perspective on a subject. In one study Hirschl asserts that "falling into poverty has often been viewed as a sign of individual failure." As a result of this mindset, "the poor, and particularly those receiving welfare assistance, have been one of the most stigmatized groups in American society." In Tompkins County, 13 percent of the population fell below the federal poverty line according to the 2005 Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates. This tally doesn’t take into account the many county residents earning something more than the federal poverty level who still struggle to make ends meet. For these people teetering on the edge of federally defined poverty, gaining financial stability is often a struggle. Hirschl’s research noted that for most of these families, poverty is not a chronic problem but something they can experience for one, two or three years and then escape. This has been the experience of the Miller family who moved to Ithaca from San Diego in 2003, attracted by the environmentally-friendly community and its proximity to family. What they didn’t realize is that payments on the SUV they’d bought the previous year with no money down and no payments for a year was about to wreak havoc on their finances. After spending their savings on the move, the parents Megan and Michael, who have two young boys, used credit cards to pay their bills. December 2006 was the first month in many that they were able to pay all their bills. "I saw first hand the emotional and mental devastation and how it makes you feel less worth something when you can’t provide for yourself" said Megan Miller. Statistically, the Millers are at an advantage. Research shows that for some groups it is much more difficult to move out of poverty. Those with disabilities that prevent them from working, single mothers with numerous children and minorities in inner cities all face greater odds trying to escape poverty. African Americans and those with less than 12 years of education are also at higher risk for long-term poverty. Understanding that even for those outside these sub-groups it is still true that "the majority of Americans will encounter economic vulnerability at some point during their lives can facilitate a fundamental shift in terms of how poverty is perceived and acted upon at the policy level," wrote Hirschl. "Such a conceptual change begins with the realization that poverty can no longer be viewed as an issue that merely pertains to others, but rather as one that belongs to us all." As The Journal explores poverty-related issues such as housing, health care, child care, education and transportation over the course of the year, readers are encouraged to help us report this story by using our Story Chats and forums, contacting our reporters Jennie Daley and Topher Sanders or sending us an e-mail at [email protected]. [email protected] Originally published March 13, 2007 http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/NEWS01/70313008 |
Define poverty: 
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no fucking shit, virtually everyone's broke when they first start out on their own. |
Stupid is as stupid does. Can't you just see it a year later? "Hey, you mean we have to actually pay for this thing!?"  CMOS |
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It's amazing how "studies" (read: government grant money - our taxes - spent for professional welfare for these "professors" that in reality provide NOTHING to society) make "poverty" sound like some nefarious creature lurking in the shadows, just waiting to pounce on its next unsuspecting victim. "Damn! Poverty strikes again! - Not a damn thing I could have done about it." CMOS |
Oh my GOD! I thought you were being a smart alleck, but that quote is actually in the article? That's the dumbest F'in thing I have heard yet today! |
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well, if 50% of us can end up in poverty at any time (per this study), but 50% of us are NOT, that just re-inforces to me that bums [for the most part] *should* be stigmatized. according to this man's "study" it could happen to any of us. since we all have an equal chance, there is clearly something lacking in the small percent that actually do liver in poverty their whole lives. |
When your agenda is to promote a socialist state with cradle-to-grave welfare programs, it is important to scare all people into believing that they too, at a moment's notice, without warning and completely out of their own control, may fall into poverty and need those welfare benefits.
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Exposing the Poverty Lie: www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/BG1221.cfm
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The Millers aren't very fucking smart are they. Fuck the Millers. They can kiss my ass. Drive a used car, pay cash for it. Don't move it you can't afford it. Don't blow your rainy day fund on non-emergencies. Our society is going to collapse because of debt  |
What the experts define as poverty would be considered high-end luxury in most of the rest of the world, including developing nations. |
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I spent 2 years in "poverty", living in a transient hotel. I was out of school, out of the Navy and out of work. What did I do?: Found a full time day job. Scrimped and saved and bought a crappy car that I fixed up. Worked my ass off. Improved my self through study and OJT. Got increasingly higher paying jobs. Took college classes at night. Married a damn good woman. What didn't I do?: Whine. Go on unemployment. Party. Spend money I didn't have. Slack off. 20 years and 3 kids later, we have a $275k home that I owe $89k on. Two paid off cars and a new one that we owe 10K on. A little CC debt. Money in the bank. 401K and traditional retirement plans. This, my friends is the American Dream. The USA is still a place where hard work and perseverance and planning can make you successful. I'm living proof. |
Technically I lived below the poverty line during my senior year in college (lived off-campus in a rented TH with roommates, and ate a lot of Ramen). Does this count?
I want to know who was stupid enough to fund that study, since I could have come up with the same conclusions at no cost. Wait - we hardworking taxpayers probably funded it. Never mind... With the exception of the disabled, basically the author is saying that people end up in poverty due to their own piss-poor decisions. Who would have thought? |
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I lost count of the number of people I have come across over the last few years that are absolutely struggling paycheck-to-paycheck, while still making the minimum VISA payments (on their $3000 balance), making car payments, and partying like there's no tomorrow. I've even politely suggest to a few, after they whine like a banchee about how evil rich people are, that they should: 1) move to a low cost apartment (not a "luxury" apartment!) 2) sell their damn SUV or Mustang and get a USED Hyundai Elantra 3) burn their CC's I swear to God they have all looked at me like ***I*** was crazy - that the very thought of selling THEIR car was literally an impossibility. They all had that same look on their faces - "Sell my car!? Impossible! I couldn't survive!"  I am amazed these people make it out of bed and back into it the same day. CMOS |
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They gave a more indepth story about some of these people in todays paper : Poverty's price in Tompkins County The costs are financial, social and moral By Jennie Daley and Topher Sanders Journal Staff Tony Zegretti first found himself living on the streets of Ithaca when he was 16. His cycle of poverty began when he dropped out of school in seventh grade to care for his ailing mother. When she died, he had few options. Now 48, he has struggled through his adult life, living on and off the streets and in and out of shelters. His story is unique, but Zegretti is not alone in a life of poverty. More than 13 percent of those residing in Tompkins County have a salary below the poverty line, according to federal guidelines. That number increases to 25 percent using local standards. Additionally, each American has a 50 percent chance of living in poverty for at least a year, according to research by Tom Hirschl, a Cornell University professor. Yet, Tompkins County residents often hear how much better they are faring economically compared with their neighbors. According to the 2000 census, when you exclude students, the average household income of $43,730 in Tompkins County is above any of the neighboring counties, the state average and the national average. Tompkins County poverty rates are also the lowest in all of those categories except when compared to Tioga County, where the rates are equal. Those who escape even the single year of poverty Hirschl predicts, however, are still touched by its grip. More than one in four county tax dollars in Tompkins County are spent on the Department of Social Services alone, and many other county programs are funded by local taxes and private contributions. How we spend that money and the number of people who are affected by poverty are sources of debate. The discussion can often begin with how we define poverty. Federal guidelines released in January define poverty as a single person earning $10,210 or less, or a family of four with an income of $20,650 annually or less. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 11,834 people in Tompkins County are living in poverty. Some argue that the government's definition of poverty leaves out a large number of people, including families, who struggle to remain financially viable but who earn more than the poverty threshold. The federal government uses the price of food to define poverty. Critics say the measure has failed to evolve and doesn't take into account many aspects of life that affect a person's cost of living. “That market basket of goods has no variation to whether you live in the country or the city, nor does it consider the extreme cultural differences of how people feed their families,” said Warren Brown, a program director with the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research. “Some people put more emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables while others are more meats and potatoes.” The poverty formula, which was developed in the 1960s, doesn't consider such variables as the increase of women in the workplace, dual-income families, cost of day care, and the rising cost of housing and transportation. For example, in 2000 the government considered a single person who was paid $8,350 or less impoverished. In that same year, the average price of a gallon of gas was $1.52. The government has increased the poverty figure by 22 percent in the past seven years, but the average price of a gallon of gas has increased 70 percent to $2.58 in 2006. “Objectively measuring poverty is incredibly difficult, and I don't think it is adequately done,” Brown said. The government's guidelines have also been criticized for their universal application. Poverty in Ithaca is defined with the same formula as poverty in New York City despite a drastically different cost of living. In Ithaca, the Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom dwelling is $773 a month compared with New York City's $1,189 a month. Only Alaska and Hawaii have different poverty guidelines. There is resistance to changing the poverty model because the method is so firmly established, Brown said. Businesses and agencies that have a stake in how poverty is tracked would have to completely uproot many of the ways they operate if the government changed the way it measures poverty. “Some measure of poverty is written into the law for the allocation of a whole lot of federal money, and if you change that you will change the allocation of money,” Brown said. To get a more realistic picture, some banking organizations and non-profit groups are taking it upon themselves to calculate how much income a person needs to make a living in a particular region. Alternatives Federal Credit Union generates a living wage analysis every two years to determine how much it takes to live in Tompkins County. The credit union's living wage sum is nearly double that of the government's poverty guideline. The credit union's most recent analysis, released in 2005, determined that a person should make $19,102 a year to afford housing, transportation, food and health care in Tompkins County. About 25 percent of the households in Tompkins County have incomes less than $20,000, according to Tompkins Community Action. “I think just anybody looking at that would question whether that makes sense,” said Carl Feuer, former organizer for the Living Wage Coalition. Feuer worked closely with Alternatives Federal Credit Union to develop the living wage figures. “In the metropolitan area or the Ithaca area there is just no way that a family of four can really live adequately on $20,000” as the federal poverty guideline states, he said. For example, Michael and Megan Miller's family, a family of four in Ithaca who earned about $20,000 in 2004, was about $170 in the hole every month. The family used credit cards to purchase food and household necessities because their income was not enough. Feuer said many government programs often acknowledge the flaw in the government's definition of poverty by making the qualifying criteria some multiple of the poverty standard. The numbers jumble Trying to determine how much taxpayer money goes into funding poverty-related services is a bureaucratic morass. Because of the number of services offered, the different eligibility requirements for each and the diverse accounting methods each organization uses, calculating an overall figure was impossible for this report. What is clear is that Tompkins County spends about one of every four dollars in its budget funding the Department of Social Services, and DSS is only one of the many county departments that deal with local low-income populations. “The money we spend doesn't begin to meet the need. As large as the dollars are, there's so many people who fall between the cracks,” said County Legislator Martha Robertson, D-Dryden. For example, she said many times people aren't aware of the services available to them. With more than 100 organizations offering programs that can help low-income people, it can be a difficult system to navigate. When Zegretti dropped out of school in seventh grade, services such as the Department of Social Services didn't exist. He said he left school to care for his mother, and once she died he moved in with another family. After he left them, around the age of 21, Zegretti was on his own. He spoke of living in a tent, eating out of trash bins and working at a string of odd jobs. All of those experiences were colored by his battle with alcoholism and his belief that he didn't need help. These days, Zegretti stays out of bars and wakes up at 6:30 a.m. in his rental apartment to get ready for his job with Challenge, a local employer. He attributes his turn around to help from area addiction centers, the Red Cross Friendship Center and other local organizations. The largest provider of services for low-income county residents is DSS. The local share of the department's budget is $18 million out of a total county-authorized operating budget of nearly $40 million. The remaining $22 million is accounted for by state and federal reimbursements. Some think the county could optimize that figure. “There's no doubt that's a considerable dollar amount,” said Frank Proto, R-Slaterville. “Some of the county's agencies need to refine how they are delivering services.” The large number of social service agencies in Tompkins makes evaluating their effectiveness difficult, Proto said. He is in favor of the county's social services agencies generating annual reports that detail which clients received what services and how those clients are progressing. Confidentiality could be maintained by assigning each client a consumer code, he said. County Legislator Michael J. Sigler, R-Freeville, agreed with Proto that social programs need more evaluation to make sure they are needed. “I think you have to keep your eye on a lot of social services and ask not only are they still effective but is it something that the county should be paying for or the state or federal government,” Sigler said. “I think that's our job. You actually have to go into each program and evaluate them.” The reports would ensure taxpayers were getting the most for their money. “In order for us to determine if an agency or department is delivering the services in an adequate way we need to see what the outcomes are,” Proto said. “We need to determine if the recipient is making any progress.” Analysis of the report would enable the county to boost the funding of successful programs and reduce the funding of inefficient or unsuccessful programs. “The primary purpose is to make sure a person is getting help, and sometimes throwing more money at a service doesn't mean that the recipient is getting the help they need,” he said. The report would also enable the county to clearly see if services are unnecessarily being offered by more than one agency. “There may be a need to consolidate a couple of the services,” he said. “If you have several agencies that are delivering the same services, the important thing from a taxpayer's standpoint is not to be redundant, this report would help us identify some of the redundancy.” To understand what the costs are for a county taxpayer, consider the median home price in the county is $169,000 based on 2006 sales. With a county tax rate of $6.30 per $1,000 of assessed home value, a homeowner would owe about $1,065. With one quarter of the county's local share going to DSS, that equals about $266 per household in county taxes supporting the department's operations. This calculation doesn't consider state and federal tax dollars supporting DSS and comparable programs. In the 2006-07 state fiscal year, which runs from April 1 to March 31, Tompkins County received almost $5 million in state funding for human services, plus around $800,000 for administration costs. That money included support for family services, child care and Title XX, which funds social services. Under Gov. Eliot Spitzer's budget proposal for 2007-08, the county would receive about $115,000 more with an additional, undetermined sum for administration costs. Where the money goes Tompkins County public relations personnel said it was unable to provide The Journal with a single estimate on what the county spends annually to assist low-income people. Like The Journal, the county ran into complications because of the variety of income qualifications for varying programs and the issue of programs that don't exclusively serve low-income individuals. Some department heads did share their own estimates, for instance the Office for the Aging. Even then Lisa Holmes, the executive director, needed to qualify her estimates. “The Office for the Aging serves individuals of all incomes; however, we attempt to target our services to ensure that the most vulnerable populations have access,” Holmes wrote. Shirley Sanders could qualify as part of a vulnerable population. Now 77, Sanders' fortunes changed when her husband, Gordon, died unexpectedly 18 years ago. Without the pension from his job at the salt plant in Watkins Glen or his Veterans Affairs pension, Sanders found herself relying on Social Security. Her monthly allotment is $727, putting her yearly income about $1,500 below the federal poverty line. While Medicare and Medicaid cover the medical costs associated with her recent heart attack and respiratory issues, Sanders said the most difficult part about being on a fixed income is keeping up with her bills. Between her car breaking down and the ever increasing costs for heat, she said it can be tough. “My heating bills are so high already,” she said, “and they keep going up.” Her car, now fixed, sits outside the trailer where she lives. The trailer is another fallout from her husband's death. The couple lived in a nine-room Newfield home for decades, but she was eventually unable to maintain it. Better Housing of Tompkins County, the Office for the Aging and Tompkins Community Action, along with others, came in and helped her move into the trailer and then bulldozed her unsafe home. Beyond the financial While it is difficult to quantify how much is spent in Tompkins County to help those in need, there is little question that it is a sizeable number. But how much is that money worth? Not only is there a financial cost to these services, there is a moral and social cost to poverty that is even more difficult to quantify. Cornell professor Tom Hirschl studies many aspects of poverty and feels it is past time to examine policies affecting the poor. “This is a very fundamental moral question. To refuse people in need is a very serious thing,” Hirschl said. “How we treat each other determines who we are.” [email protected] and [email protected] Originally published March 17, 2007 www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/NEWS01/703170313 Ithaca family fights back to stability The Millers built up credit card debt for a year and a half By Topher Sanders Journal Staff ITHACA — Michael and Megan Miller never considered themselves impoverished, even when the couple ate oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and dinner for three months in 2003. “I just feel like we had a taste of it,” Megan Miller said. “There are a lot of people who are way worse off.” The Millers, who have two boys, ages 5 and 3, moved to Ithaca in 2003 from San Diego to find affordable real estate and enjoy the community. Hard times blindsided the family when payments for an SUV they purchased a year prior began to kick in. The Millers went from financial stability and thoughts of purchasing a home to staring poverty in the face. “One foolish choice that had a huge impact,” Megan said, describing the SUV purchase. The family bought the vehicle with zero down and no payments for a year. They expected to make payments on the vehicle before moving to Ithaca but were unable to do so. Joe King, a credit counselor for CFCU who has worked with Challenge Industries Job Club and the Three Pillar Foundation of the Ithaca Housing Authority, said he has seen families hurt financially from a single purchase. “Reading the fine print and understanding it is key,” he said. “People should ask questions.” A lot of people won't ask questions when they are signing paperwork on a big-ticket item because they are embarrassed or because too much information is coming at them, King said. A barrage of information spewing from multiple salesmen and a crying baby left the couple unfocused during the transaction for their SUV, the Millers said. “I like the car, but we just didn't know anything, and we were really dumb,” Megan said. “We made all of the mistakes that you are suppose to learn about and not make when you go to buy your first car. I don't even know what the sticker price was. We just signed away.” The car dealership altered the couple's income to qualify them for the car, and the salesman focused on the projected monthly payments instead of the vehicle's total cost. The vehicle payments were more than $600 a month, and their new rent in Ithaca was more than $500. Megan was pregnant with the couple's second child, and Michael's new job as a clerk for Greenstar food cooperative was paying about $250 a week, which was not as much as the couple expected. Day care costs kept Megan at home instead of finding employment. In a matter of weeks the Millers went from having savings to spending more than they earned. When the family paid their rent and car payment every month there was very little left for anything else. “We basically bought our groceries and stuff like that on a credit card for almost two years,” Megan said. “We were short every month.” For nearly a year and a half the couple exhausted their income on bills and used credit cards to purchase household necessities, transferring the balance of one card to another several times. Megan said she wishes they would have learned more about finances when they were younger. “If no one has showed you by example how to make those smart choices it's so much easier to fall into those traps,” she said. King has seen a lack of experience with finances plague families. “It starts really in high school,” King said. “You can kind of see it passed down to their kids because that's the only training they get. If the parents have used credit cards and gotten into some financial situations, the kids kind of see that and think it's all right.” The couple tried to get out of their car deal, they spoke with credit counselors who merely told the couple they needed to earn more money, and they sought the help of the Department of Social Services. “It felt like we were in a sand pit; the more you keep digging the deeper you get,” Megan said. The SUV continued to haunt the couple as they tried to regain their footing. The Millers didn't qualify for food stamps because the vehicle was considered an asset. While sitting in DSS's offices Megan felt frustrated by the others waiting with her. “When I was in DSS I resented those people,” Megan said. “The people in the room that I felt, just by their attitude, that they were just in there to get a free handout, they made me mad because I just wanted temporary help. I just felt like they didn't appreciate that the system was there to help them. I was in there just nervous that they were going to reject us, which they did.” The feelings Megan had while sitting in the DSS office are not unique. “It's pretty intimidating going to ask for assistance, and a lot of people aren't programmed to ask for that type of assistance,” said Cindy Martin, family resources director for Tompkins Community Action. “They feel a little bit ashamed, and they are also feeling like they haven't done what they should have done and that they've let their families down and that they've kind of failed.” The Department of Social Services is the last stop for some families. “They've asked friends for money, they've asked family for help, and their self esteem is pretty bad when they arrive at DSS,” Martin said. “Combined with the fact that they are feeling so nervous and so tense and they probably are a little resentful that people are there and they look more comfortable and they aren't as tense.” The couple's financial problems affected their relationship. The couple argued more often and didn't get along. “The stress totally boils over and snowballs into everything,” Michael said Megan agreed. “It changes the whole family dynamic,” she said. “You can't just enjoy your day. We saw in just those few years the toll that it took on us emotionally and on our relationship. It has a huge spiraling downward effect, and it really takes a lot from your self-esteem and makes you feel like you are not worth anything.” The couple began seeing a way out of their situation when they started taking programs offered by Alternatives Credit Federal Union. “I really think Alternatives was our saving grace,” Megan said. The Millers have used nearly every program the credit union offers. The couple has taken advantage of the organization's business class, a budgeting class, a free tax preparation program, and a savings and funds matching program to help grow their business that the bank offers for people earning low incomes. Megan credits the bank with helping her boost her freelance eco-friendly enterprise into a full-fledged business she calls Green Clean. The company has nearly 30 clients and has two employees who earn living wages. “The best thing someone can do for themselves, and I don't care if you make $100 or $4,000, is do a periodic spending plan,” King said. “Monthly living expenses is what's killing everybody these days. They just keep going up and up, and if you don't keep track of that you'll have no idea how much you're spending.” Keeping track of their expenses was key to helping the Millers slowly get their financial footing back. “December was the first month that we've paid all of our bills on time and didn't have to borrow money from anybody to make it happen,” Megan said. “I thought I made a mistake. I spent like two days going over everything because we've never had money. There needs to be more programs that make it seem possible to help yourself.” The couple said life is becoming less stressful as they are able to pay their bills with more regularity. “It felt impossible to get out of for a time, and I can see how it would make people just want to give up and rely on the system,” Megan said. The Millers hope their story will inspire others. “I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment for us sticking it out and making it here,” Michael said. “I look back on it and just feel proud of the fact that we could keep it together.” “If we can get through those tough times, what can't we do?” she said. [email protected] Originally published March 17, 2007 www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/NEWS01/703170303 Poverty by the Numbers Living wage Living wage in Tompkins County is $9.18 an hour or $19,102 a year, according to Alternatives Federal Credit Union. Only 37 of the 2,321 employers in the county are certified as living wage employers. Minimum wage The New York minimum wage increased from $6.75 to $7.15 an hour in January. If a New York employee earned minimum wage and worked 40 hours a week for an entire year without any unpaid holidays or vacation days, he or she would be paid $14,872. The federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour. Tompkins trend The poverty trend in Tompkins County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates: 11,834 at 13.5 percent in 2004 11,406 at 13 percent in 2003 11,249 at 12.6 percent in 2002 10,980 at 12.5 percent in 2001 10,350 at 12 percent in 2000 (Distinguishing this from the full Census data) 9,977 at 11.7 percent in 1999 11,412 at 13.1 percent in 1998 11,884 at 13.7 percent in 1997 Neighboring counties Neighboring county data on poverty for 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates: 6,193 at 13.6 percent in Cortland County 9,094 at 11.7 percent in Cayuga County 3,690 at 11.4 percent in Seneca County 4,842 at 9.4 percent in Tioga County Facts and figures * The U.S. government measures poverty using the cost of food based on a diet model created in the 1960s. Each year the government accounts for inflation associated with food cost and changes the poverty threshold, but how poverty is measured has not changed since the 1960s despite drastic changes in the everyday financial lives of Americans. * Of the 5,621 students enrolled in the Ithaca City School District, 1,753 are on free or reduced lunch plans. That's 31 percent of the district. * 35 percent of households in Tompkins County have incomes less than $25,000, and one quarter of the population makes less than $20,000 a year. * Nearly 1 out of every 3 households in Tompkins County has housing affordability problems, according to the Tompkins County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment. * More than 500 households in Tompkins County use more than half of their income on housing, according to the Tompkins County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment. * More than 10,000 households, or 40 percent in Tompkins County, use more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to the Tompkins County Affordable Housing Needs Assessment. * One in 8 children in Tompkins County lives in poverty, according to Tompkins Community Action. Originally published March 17, 2007 www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/NEWS01/703170304 |