Illinois Poverty Changes Little in 2011
By AP
SPRINGFIELD, IL - The number of Illinois residents living in poverty stabilized in 2011.
U.S. Census data released Wednesday shows 1.8 million impoverished Illinoisans — about 14 percent. That's virtually unchanged from the previous year.
The number has increased by 545,000 since the start of the current recession. Ten percent of Illinoisans were living in poverty in 2007.
Dan Lesser of the Shriver National Center on Poverty Law says Illinois mirrors national numbers. He says food stamps help but aren't counted in the data. He also says one in five children live in poverty.
The Heartland Alliance says the number of people living in extreme poverty — $9,000 a year for a family of three — increased by 235,000 in the four years since Illinois started an anti-poverty commission.