Transcript Why Kalamazoo Needs a Well-Coordinated Strategy to Promote Shared Prosperity

The Challenge
Why Kalamazoo Needs a
Well-Coordinated Strategy
to Promote Shared Prosperity
Prepared by
Tim Ready
Lewis Walker Institute
Western Michigan University
August 27, 2015
Poverty in Kalamazoo: 2000 and 2013
60%
2000
50%
2013
46%
46%
46%
41%
40%
40%
34%
33%
29%
30%
26%
24%
48%
46%
27%
26%
20%
20%
14%
10%
0%
Total
white
black
All Ages
Hispanic
Total
white
black
Children
* Child poverty data depicted by the red columns are for the three-year period of 2011-13
Hispanic
Child Poverty in Kalamazoo:*
Percentile Ranking among All US Cities
with at Least 65,000 People
% Poor
National Percentile Rank for Poverty
All Children:
46%
96th Percentile
White Children
33%
95th Percentile
Black Children
64%
93rd Percentile
Hispanic Children
43%
79th Percentile
* American Community Survey, 2009-2011.
** Although poverty rates appear to be decreasing slightly in some parts of the
community, Kalamazoo continues to have a higher child poverty rate than
nine out of ten cities in the U.S.
Percent of Kalamazoo Adults, 25 to 64, who Are
Employed, by Educational Attainment, 2013
90%
84%
80%
70%
69%
68%
60%
52%
50%
43%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
All
< high School
HS Grad
Some College
Bachelor's or Higher
Work Status of Kalamazoo Residents,
Age 16 and Older
No Job, 30%
Full-time Job, 33%
Part-time Job, 37%
Percent of Kalamazoo Adults in
Poverty by Employment Status, 2011
50%
46%
46%
Part-time Job
No Work
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
24%
20%
15%
10%
6%
5%
0%
Any Employment
Full-time Job
Why Are So Many Men in Kalamazoo Not Working?
High Poverty Neighborhoods
• Concentrated Poverty (not just individual and
family poverty):
– Is hazardous to health
– Undermines education outcomes
– Increases the risk of involvement in criminal justice
system
• 12 of 25 Kalamazoo Census Tracts Have
Concentrated Poverty (At Least 30 Percent of
Residents in Poverty)
Top to Bottom Ranking of Kalamazoo County
Public Schools by Percentage of Economically
Disadvantaged Students, 2013
Percentile Ranking
among Michigan Schools
The percentage of
economically disadvantaged
students in a school accounts
for 76 percent of the
variation among Kalamazoo
County public schools in the
Michigan Department of
Education’s 2013 Top-toBottom Ranking of all of the
state’s public schools
R = .872
R2 = .760
In Percent
Child Poverty as Related to the
American Ideal of Equal Opportunity for All
Source:
Greg Duncan,
Stanford Universit
Pathways, winter,
More Broadly Shared Prosperity
Our Challenge and Our Opportunity