|
Generational poverty was considered the biggest issue facing low- and moderate-income (LMI) households and communities, according to the most recent Community Development Outlook Survey, conducted by the St. Louis Fed’s Community Development area. This was the first time since the survey’s 2011 inception that job availability was not considered as having the biggest negative impact.
The survey asked a variety of stakeholders from Eighth Federal Reserve District states about issues facing LMI individuals, households and communities.1 Regarding issues impacting LMI households and communities, job availability narrowly trailed generational poverty as having the greatest negative impact. One respondent from Indiana noted: “Our community relies on low-level jobs and there are not enough good jobs for college graduates that offer appropriate pay. College graduates are leaving our community for better opportunities.” Other issues affecting these households and communities are in the figure below.
The next generation in LMI communities is expected to face similar issues. The top three challenges according to the survey were job availability, generational poverty and education.
Survey respondents were asked about the general economic conditions of LMI communities compared with six months ago. 20.1 percent said conditions were improving, compared to only 18.7 percent saying the same in the 2014 survey. 63.7 percent said conditions were staying the same, and 16.3 percent said conditions were declining. The percentages from the 2014 survey were 64.3 percent and 17.0 percent, respectively.
Regarding the future of LMI people and households, 38.4 percent of respondents said the status of LMI people and households would be better in three to five years, while only 18.5 percent said their status would be worse. The percentages from the 2014 survey were 38.6 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively.
In addition, the survey gathered responses on ways to help LMI households. The figure below shows the responses to the question: Which one of the following assets is most important in helping to increase the financial stability of LMI households?
The survey also noted the top actions that organizations or communities could take to improve the outlook for LMI individuals if funding was not a concern. The top three responses were:
This marked the first time since the survey’s inception that improving workforce development programs was the most cited response.
1 Eighth District states are Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.
The St. Louis Fed uses Disqus software for the comment functionality on this blog. You can read the Disqus privacy policy. Disqus uses cookies and third party cookies. To learn more about these cookies and how to disable them, please see this article.
Subscribe to
On the Economy
Get notified when new content is available on our On the Economy blog.
The On the Economy blog recently ranked in the top 20 on Feedspot’s list of top bank blogs.
About the Blog
The St. Louis Fed On the Economy blog features relevant commentary, analysis, research and data from our economists and other St. Louis Fed experts.
Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis or of the Federal Reserve System.
Popular Posts
Contact Us
For media-related questions, email mediainquiries@stls.frb.org. For all other blog-related questions or comments, email on-the-economy@stls.frb.org.
Categories
- Vulgar, obscene, profane or otherwise disrespectful or discourteous
- For commercial use, including spam
- Threatening, harassing or constituting personal attacks
- Violating copyright or otherwise infringing on third-party rights
- Off-topic or significantly political
The St. Louis Fed will only respond to comments if we are clarifying a point. Comments are limited to 1,500 characters, so please edit your thinking before posting. While you will retain all of your ownership rights in any comment you submit, posting comments means you grant the St. Louis Fed the royalty-free right, in perpetuity, to use, reproduce, distribute, alter and/or display them, and the St. Louis Fed will be free to use any ideas, concepts, artwork, inventions, developments, suggestions or techniques embodied in your comments for any purpose whatsoever, with or without attribution, and without compensation to you. You will also waive all moral rights you may have in any comment you submit.