More Kentuckians living in poverty

This blog post was written by Beth Bissmeyer, a Berea College student and co-chair of the Madison County chapter.

We've heard a lot this summer about the rising costs of gas, food, and utilities, and how folks are feeling the pinch of paying extra. But how about folks living in poverty? Just how much are they being impacted? That's a question I can't begin to answer, but there are now more than half a million Kentuckians living in poverty who could.

An article posted today on the Lexington Herald-Leader website reports that the number of Kentuckians living in poverty last year has increased.

U.S. Census Bureau figures released Tuesday show that 714,080 people were living in poverty in Kentucky in 2007, up from 693,479 in 2006.

The Census Bureau also reports that Kentucky's median household income fell. It was $43,050, below the national median household income of $50,740.

And there are now more children younger than 18 living in poverty. That figure rose from 223,290 in 2006 to 234,959 in 2007.

If we want to work to change Kentucky for the better, we must continue to work on issues of economic justice so that the next time we see a Census report, we see the number of people living in poverty drop.

To learn more about KFTC's Economic Justice campaign, visit: http://www.kftc.org/our-work/tax-justice.