2016 Census shows rising tide in Indiana, but some boats still anchored underwater
By
Andrew Bradley, Amy Carter, Jessica Fraser and Erin Macey
Photo
credit: © Copyright Donald Bain and licensed for reuse under this Creative
Commons License
New Census data show that 2016 was overall a
year of gains for Indiana, making incremental progress on the long-term task of
reclaiming its pre-recession status. Indiana’s gains are a partial reflection
of the national recovery as U.S. incomes finally
pulled above their previous high in 1999.
The
U.S. also saw rare year-on-year improvements in poverty and health
insurance
coverage. And while Indiana didn’t match these highs, it did see areas of encouraging
gains, including a strong single-year rate of increase in median household
income and a decrease in child poverty. However, several troubling indicators
show where Indiana must focus now: a poverty rate that did not significantly
improve (and a poverty ranking that worsened four spots in just one year),
racial income and poverty disparities, and a gender pay gap that actually
widened, making Indiana’s gap the 6th highest in the United States.
Poverty: While the U.S.
saw a second straight year of significant poverty decrease, Indiana did not
match this accomplishment. Despite near-record lows in unemployment, improvements in Indiana's poverty rate stalled out in 2016. Nationwide, the official poverty rate in 2016
was 12.7%, down 0.8% and with 2.5 million fewer Americans living in poverty
than in 2015.[1] And while the number of Hoosiers living in poverty decreased to 906,077 or 14.1%
in 2016, the decrease was within the margin of error compared to 933,181 or
14.5% in 2015, after seeing a previous significant decrease from 15.2% in 2014.
However,
larger improvements in other states meant that Indiana’s poverty ranking worsened four spots in just one year, from
the 26th-highest poverty rate in 2015 to 22nd highest in
2016. Poverty also remained flat in Ohio and Kentucky in 2016, while
Michigan and Illinois saw a significant decline in the poverty rate. Among our
neighbors, only Illinois had a lower poverty rate than Indiana. Several
discrepancies among Indiana’s neglected and more vulnerable populations point
to potential reasons for our post-recession progress on poverty stalling out:
• Hoosier family-level poverty decreased significantly overall, but saw mixed results when broken out by family type. Single moms with children under 18 saw a significant decrease in poverty, from 43.2% in 2015 to 39% in 2016. But poverty for married families remained flat, with a non-significant increase from 4.3% in 2015 to 4.5% in 2016.
• Child poverty decreased significantly from 20.9% in 2015 to 19.5% in 2016. However, Indiana remained 21st-highest in child poverty rankings compared to other states.
• The percentage of seniors (age 65+) in poverty increased from 7.2% in 2015 to 7.7% in 2016, 40th highest among all states. While the change over the past year was not statistically significant, the increase from 2014’s rate of 7.0% is significant.
• Both male and female poverty rates declined, with the gap narrowing between the two.
• Hoosier family-level poverty decreased significantly overall, but saw mixed results when broken out by family type. Single moms with children under 18 saw a significant decrease in poverty, from 43.2% in 2015 to 39% in 2016. But poverty for married families remained flat, with a non-significant increase from 4.3% in 2015 to 4.5% in 2016.
• Child poverty decreased significantly from 20.9% in 2015 to 19.5% in 2016. However, Indiana remained 21st-highest in child poverty rankings compared to other states.
• The percentage of seniors (age 65+) in poverty increased from 7.2% in 2015 to 7.7% in 2016, 40th highest among all states. While the change over the past year was not statistically significant, the increase from 2014’s rate of 7.0% is significant.
• Both male and female poverty rates declined, with the gap narrowing between the two.
Economic
Self-Sufficiency: Beyond the simple poverty metric, fewer
Hoosiers lived below 200% of the poverty threshold (a basic measure of economic
self-sufficiency) in 2016 than in 2015. In 2016, 2,086,942 Hoosiers were
low-income by this measure, or 32.4% of the state’s population (compared to
2,142,960 or 33.4% in 2015). The rate of almost 1 in 3 Hoosiers unable to
afford basic costs is still
way too high but we also saw major improvements. Indiana likely saw a bigger
decline in this ‘low-income’ metric than it did in actual poverty, meaning more
Hoosiers moved from between 100% and 200% of poverty up, than moved out from
under poverty itself. [2]
And
despite continuing signs of improvement,
the percent of low-income Hoosiers is still above pre-recession level of 29.6%
in 2007. Since 2005, basic costs have
increased 60% for Hoosier families with children while
wages have increased only 9%. Among these costs, housing insecurity is a
particular concern, especially for those below self-sufficiency. In 2016, 46.1%
of Hoosier renters paid more than 30% of household income on rent, a key
measure of housing burden. While this ratio is less than 47.8% in 2015, the small
change points to the need for effective policy action to support self-sufficiency
for low-income families.
Household Income
and Pay Gaps: Indiana had a good year for household income
working incrementally back to pre-recession levels, but the gains were thinner
at the bottom and some racial and gender gaps widened. Indiana’s median
household income increased to $52,314 in 2016 from $50,896 in 2015. While all
of the state’s neighbors saw a significant increase, Indiana’s gain of 2.8% was
the largest. This was also the 17th highest gain among states, and
beat the U.S. average rate increase of 2.4%. Another encouraging stat is that in
2015, 49.1% of Hoosier households earned less than $50,000, while in 2016, that
proportion was down to 36.9%. However, Indiana’s
median household income is still the lowest among all neighbors (except
Kentucky) and retained its ranking of #36 nationwide. And despite the 2016
increase, Indiana's incomes haven't recovered from the recession, and are still
down $2,616 from 2007 (in 2016 dollars). [3]
The
seeming incongruity between a rising poverty ranking and strong median
household income growth in 2016 can be partially explained by discrepancies in
growth among income levels and by race and gender. The uneven growth of Hoosier incomes
is evident among income quintiles – the largest gains were for households in
the third income quintile (the middle 20% of earners) where both the mean & upper limit
of quintile grew about 3% (in real dollars). However, there was only a 0.5%
income growth for the poorest 20% of households. Every
other quintiles’ growth was about the same.
Strikingly,
Hoosiers experienced a widening gender and racial pay gap in 2016. Indiana saw a
2 percentage point increase in the gender pay gap among full time, year-round workers
- from 24% in 2015 to 26% in 2016 - even as the U.S. gap declined. Men saw a $2,065 increase in median earnings over
2015 while women’s earnings climbed only $687. The annual difference in wages between
full time working Hoosier women and men is now $12,717. Indiana now ranks 6th
in the U.S. for highest gender wage gaps (up from 12th-highest in
2015), and has the highest pay gap of our neighbors, with Ohio at 23%, Michigan
at 22%, and both Illinois and Kentucky at 20%.
Median
earnings were up for White & Latinx men and women, but down for Black &
Asian men and women in 2016. Biracial men gained, but biracial women saw a
decline.
Health Insurance
Coverage: Another
bright spot for Indiana in 2016 was the continuing trend of higher health coverage
due to the state expanding Medicaid under the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP2.0).
The percentage of Hoosiers with health coverage increased to 91.9% in 2016, up
significantly from 90.4% and from 88.1% in 2013, also a significant change. 530,000
Hoosiers, or 8.1% of the population, remained uninsured in 2016, down
significantly from 9.6% in 2015 and from 14.0% in 2013, also a significant change.
In addition, in 2016 only 5.9% of Indiana children under 18 remained uninsured,
down significantly from 6.7% in 2015 and from 8.2% in 2013, also a significant
change. From 2013-2016, nearly 373,000 Hoosiers gained health coverage. Because
health insurance is a key factor for economic self-sufficiency, the clear
takeaway is that Indiana’s policymakers should
not support any change to health care policies that threatens these
significant improvements.
Educational
Attainment: Indiana showed positive gains in educational
attainment with a decreasing rate of adults 25 and older with a high school
education but no diploma, from 8.0% in 2015 to 7.9% in 2016. Indiana also saw
an increasing educational attainment rate for adults 25 and older with at least
some college (from those with some college but no degree all the way to PhD earners),
from 53.9% in 2015 to 54.6% in 2016. There was a decline in the ratio of adults
with a high school diploma or equivalency – from 34.3% in 2015 to 33.7% in 2016,
but this may be due to a higher proportion with at least some college
education. State policies to provide better tuition support for higher
education seem to be paying off, but work is not done to remove non-academic barriers for
adult students. Only 87,857 (or 9.7%) of Indiana’s impoverished population was enrolled
in post-secondary education in 2016, suggesting Indiana must do more to reach
low-income students and support their efforts to pursue family-sustaining career
pathways.
The safety net: Over the last few years, Indiana has seen
decreases in the percentages of households using the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP). In 2013 the rate was 13.1%, and in 2014 it was
12.8%. The new data follow this pattern, showing a statistically significant
decrease from 11.5% in 2015 to 10.8% in 2016. While reductions in SNAP numbers
are welcome as a result of poverty decreasing, it is important to measure the
success of the program based on how many people it helps lift out of poverty,
not on how many people are dropped from the rolls. With a statistically flat
poverty rate, this significant decrease in SNAP raises questions about how
Indiana administers safety net programs and policies.
On the whole, the new Census data
show that a rising national tide is now lifting many boats in Indiana, but certain
groups remain anchored below water. Unfortunately, stagnant poverty rates and
incomes for the poorest Hoosiers are not going away on their own, neither are gender
and racial gaps closing themselves. In order to see improvements, state policy must
address the systemic barriers some groups of Hoosiers experience that are holding them back even as others see gains. But the good news is that Indiana has a
history of solving problems when we give them attention, as has happened with
our consistently high ‘business-friendly’ rankings.
When Indiana sets its mind on improving the economic status of low-income
Hoosiers, it will see success there, too.
[1] Note that the official national poverty rate is determined using the Current Population Survey, while state and local poverty data comes from the American Community Survey.
[2] However, this movement isn’t necessarily sequential - people who came out of
poverty could have jumped well above 200%, and conversely people above 200%
could have fallen all the way down below the poverty threshold due to
individual circumstances.
[3] IIWF
calculations of Census ACS data from 2007 and 2016.
ACTION ALERT on Tax Reform
|
This Labor Day, More Hoosiers Working with Weaker Voice, Less Pay than Neighbors
Andrew Bradley
Senior Policy Analyst
This Labor Day, Hoosiers are back
on the job in record numbers - and the state needs only 75,900 more jobs to
reach its pre-recession employment rate - but our hard work is less likely to be protected by union
coverage, and our pay keeps slipping compared to our neighbors’, too. Hoosiers who have been left out of the national economic recovery should ask
themselves why attacks on labor rights should be allowed to keep shrinking
our paychecks, job quality, and families’ futures.
Hoosiers do better when we band together to
make our voices stronger - whether in the PTA, in ag & rural electric
co-ops, or in collective bargaining on the job. But attacks on our rights
to negotiate better deals at work have had a negative impact in recent years that
can be seen in the declining rate of workers protected by union contracts. A new report by the Economic Policy Institute shows that only 11.4% of Hoosier
workers have union coverage, down from 22.6% in 1989. 32% of Indiana’s public sector workers are covered
(after years
of attack), and a mere 8.5% in the private sector have union coverage following the so-called ‘right to work’ law. Indiana now has the lowest union coverage of any
of our neighbors, including Kentucky.
This disproportionate lack of workers’ voice in Indiana is
doubly a shame, because today’s unions are increasingly diverse and are one of
the best routes for workers to secure guarantees for high paying, high quality
jobs. EPI found that unions workers are more likely to have essential job benefits like employer-sponsored health insurance,
paid family leave, paid sick time, and fair schedules. Unions have helped raise wages and standards for members and non-members alike. Nationwide, about
two-thirds of workers age 18 to 64 covered by a union contract are women and/or
people of color, and unions help close gender and racial wage gaps. More than half of union members have an associate degree, and two in five
have a bachelor’s degree or more education. And in Indiana, a new generation of
workers’ voice is bringing the spirit of social activism to counter Indiana’s restrictive state labor laws that go
hand-in-hand with flagging incomes.
Indiana’s decline in union coverage
and attacks on labor rights correlates with declining income rates. Hoosiers' incomes peaked
in value in 1999 and haven’t been the same since. In fact, Advisor Perspectives
labeled Indiana a ‘21st Century Loser’ in incomes, tied for the 9th-largest drop since
2000. This trend hasn’t abated since Indiana passed its so-called ‘right to work’ law in 2012. In fact in 2015, the same year Indiana repealed the common
construction wage, Indiana’s median household income grew so little compared to
other states that our income ranking dropped from 34th to 36th in the nation. Indiana now has the lowest median wages of any of our neighbors, including Kentucky. If there are
benefits to undercutting Indiana’s labor standards, they aren’t showing up in the
average Hoosier’s paycheck, or even in employers’ ability to find a skilled workforce. So why keep them?
Tired of Indiana falling behind our neighbors? Contact your state legislators and ask them to sponsor a study of the ‘return on investment’
of Indiana’s so-called ‘right to work’ law and other attacks on labor
standards. Any laws that get in the way of Hoosiers standing together for
higher wages and job quality should be terminated before next Labor Day comes
around.
______________________________________________________
Note: the Indiana Institute for Working Families receives no funding from union or labor sources, but supports collective bargaining for workers based on data and principle.
Please donate to help us advocate for an Indiana economy that works for all Hoosier families!
Dropping Pay Data Collection Removes a Vital Tool Needed to Promote Equality
Dropping Pay Data
Collection Removes a Vital Tool Needed to Promote Equality
The news that the Trump administration’s Office of
Management and Budget issued a ‘review
and stay’ of equal pay data collection is extremely disappointing. At last
summer’s Republican National Convention, Ivanka Trump vowed that her father
would fight for equal pay for women. However, this move diminishes the
Administration’s ability to reach that outcome.
In September, the Indiana Institute for Working Families will
publish a first-of-its-kind report on gender disparities in wages, wealth, and
poverty. Comparing Hoosier men and women working full time, year round, our
wage gap is 24 percent or $11,339. These earnings differences contribute to gaps
in assets like home equity and retirement savings. Women in Indiana are also
more likely to experience poverty. At the current rate of progress, Indiana’s
gender wage gap is not
projected to close until 2082.
The revised EEO-1 equal pay data collection form would have
increased the speed at which we could close these gaps. At the Institute, we firmly
believe that data can fosters productive self-reflection, dialogue, and action.
This data collection tool - developed with extensive public input - was
designed to both encourage large employers to reflect on their own pay practices
and provide useful data to make the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
more efficient and effective. Now, it is less likely that either of those goals
will come to fruition.
Action is needed on multiple fronts to address gender and
race-based wage gaps and their far-reaching consequences for families,
communities, and our economy. Leading employers in Indiana and beyond have
already recognized the importance of pay audits and addressing pay gaps; they know
it is the right thing to do and that gender
diversity boosts productivity. But not all employers will follow suit. The
Administration’s decision to call a halt to this carefully considered, common
sense proposal raises serious questions about its commitment to the economic
well-being of Hoosier families and our economy.
Want to stay up-to-date
on news like this? Follow us on Facebook
and Twitter. Have a wage gap
story to tell? Contact
us!
Trump Tax Plan Would Shortchange Indiana, Middle Class & Working Families (But Would Let Them Eat Cake)
Andrew
Bradley, Senior Policy Analyst
The Trump
Administration’s proposed tax plan would shortchange Indiana as a state, especially
its middle-class and working families, while top earners would pocket a
windfall. Although the administration hasn’t yet released full details of the plan,
their public statements show that Indiana wouldn’t get its fair share of tax
cuts, which would disproportionately benefit the nation’s very wealthiest and
would likely be offset by damaging cuts to vital services.
A new analysis of the Trump tax plan
from the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy shows that Indiana would only
get an 87% share of tax cuts relative to the state’s ratio of the U.S.
population. This is the 23rd-smallest share among states. In part because
the plan is aimed at high-income households and Indiana is a poorer state, no
matter how you slice it, Indiana gets shortchanged compared to the average
state by Trump’s plan.
Middle- and low-earning
Hoosier families together really get the short end of the Trump tax stick,
while the wealthiest earners profit big-league. Added together, the three low-
and middle-earning quintiles (making up 60% of Indiana’s population) would only
get 11.7% of the planned cuts, while the top 1% alone would take home 46.1% of
the state’s share of tax cuts. The top 1%, all with incomes of at least
$500,500 annually, would get an extra $95,940 each year (at $1,845, enough to
pop the corks on three cases of Moët & Chandon
champagne every single week). That $95,940 in additional cuts for the top 1% is
more than nearly 80% of Hoosiers earn in a year.
By contrast, the bottom 60% of middle- and working-class Hoosiers, all with annual
incomes less than $64,000, would get just $410 per year on average (at $7.88
each week, barely enough for a small
cake from Wal-Mart). So while the outcome
of Trump’s tax plan would shower the wealthiest with luxurious benefits, it
would lead to the destruction of the safety net that provides a measure of economic
security for middle-class and working families. (But it would let them eat cake.)
The upside-down nature
of the Trump tax scheme would only exacerbate Indiana’s regressive state tax
structure, and would do nothing to improve inequality and stagnant incomes for the
vast majority of Hoosier families. Indiana already makes the ‘Terrible
10’ list of most-regressive state & local tax systems that tax lower
& middle-income residents at far higher rates than wealthy earners. Meanwhile,
the same top 1% of earners who benefit most from Indiana’s regressive tax
structure (and who would get the largest payoff from the Trump plan) already saw
incomes grow by 86.9% since 1979. By contrast, the other 99% of earners - largely
shortchanged by the Trump plan - saw their incomes grow by only 2.3% over that
same time period. Even with outsized earnings at the top, Indiana had the fourth-lowest
real median income growth since 2000.
Trump’s tax cuts
wouldn’t come without strings attached. The tax proposal would cost at least
$4.8 trillion over the next decade,
and would mean higher government deficits, forcing a planned $1.85
trillion in devastating cuts in safety net programs, including $116
billion in cuts to SNAP alone. The
puny share for middle & lower-earning Hoosiers would pale in comparison to
gutting services that lift over
a million Hoosiers out of poverty.
Hoosiers should call
the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to let Congress know that voting
for Trump’s tax plan would be choosing benefits for the elite over standing
with Indiana’s middle class & working families. Ask what they will do to
make sure this damaging Trump tax plan never sees the light of day!
____________________________________
Photo credits: goo.gl/Z74jJa & goo.gl/q8jgqs
Please donate to help us advocate for an Indiana economy that works for all Hoosier families!
ACTION ALERT: Indy Council to Vote Monday to #RaiseTheWage to $13 for City-County Employees
ACTION ALERT: Indy Council to Vote Monday to #RaiseTheWage to $13 for
City-County Employees
The final vote on Proposition 92 will be August 14th at 7
p.m.
This coming Monday the Indianapolis City-County Council will
take a final vote on Proposition
92, which would raise the minimum wage for City-County employees to $13 per
hour. The vote will come after Mayor Joe Hogsett presents his 2018 budget
proposal.
CONTACT
YOUR COUNCILOR and ask them to VOTE YES ON PROP 92!
Also, be sure to call Mayor Hogsett at (317) 327-3601 and
ask him to make his support for Prop 92 loud and clear!
In May, IIWF Director Jessica Fraser said this at
the unveiling of Prop 92:
“Our research has shown
us that in
NO county in Indiana can even a single adult be self-sufficient on the
minimum wage of $7.25. For
Marion County, the real self-sufficient wage is about $10 an hour for a
single adult. Keep in mind that $10/hour is not a thriving wage-- it’s a
making-ends-meet wage. It is the first
rung on the ladder of upward economic mobility. Proposal 92, which moves all
city-county employees to a minimum of $13/ an hour goes a few rungs higher on
that ladder and will help some city county employees not only get to economic
self-sufficiency but to start on their own paths toward upward mobility and the
middle class."
Supporters of Prop 92 should pack the house Monday night to
show your support. If you can’t make the meeting in person, watch
the Council LIVE to see if your Councilor votes the way you ask them to!
 |
| IIWF Director Jessica Fraser Speaks at Prop 92's Unveiling, May 2017 |
