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Facts About Poverty in Chicago
Excerpts from the 2009 Report on Chicago Region Poverty
by the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty Donate now to help children in poverty in Chicago.
1.5 million Illinoisans—936,000 of them in the Chicago area—experience violations of their human rights due to the impact of poverty on their lives. Poverty limits people’s ability to put a roof over their heads, feed and clothe their children, and access equal educational and job opportunities
| 416,119 or 5.0% of Chicago area residents live in extreme poverty, below 50% of the federal poverty threshold |
+ |
520,140 or 6.3% of Chicago area residents live between 50% and 100% of the federal poverty threshold |
= |
936,259 (11.3%) |
| 615,989 or 7.4% of Chicago area residents live between 100% and 150% of the federal poverty threshold |
+ | 661,871 or 8.0% of Illinoisans live between 150% and 200% of the federal poverty threshold |
= |
1,277,860 (15.4%) |
 |
|
Chicago Region Poverty by County, 2007 (Federal Poverty Line - FPL)
| Geography | Poverty (under 100% FPL) |
Extreme poverty (under 50% FPL) |
Low income (100%-199% FPL) |
| Chicago | 20.5% | 9.1% | 20.6% |
| Suburban Cook | 8.3% | 3.7% | 14.2% |
| DuPage | 4.5% | 2.2% | 11.3% |
| McHenry | 5.7% | 2.6% | 9.6% |
| Will | 5.8% | 2.8% | 11.5% |
|
The most current poverty data reflect the year 2007 and therefore do not capture current economic realities. Already in early 2009, local unemployment topped 9.0%, meaning that since 2007 as many as:253,000 more Chicago area residents may have become poor—87,000 of them children. 160,000 more Chicago area residents may have become extremely poor—54,000 of them children |
- 10,642 homeless students were identified in Chicago Public Schools last school year, a 35% increase in just 5 years.
- Homeless children experience disruptions in their education, leading to irregular school attendance and poor academic achievement.
- At the end of their freshman year 40.5% of Chicago Public School students were already not academically on-track to graduate.
- Over half a million full-time workers in the Chicago region do not have health insurance.
- 77.1% of Chicago renters and 78.0% of suburban renter families earning less than $35,000 a year spend over one third of their income on housing.
- Federal housing assistance programs only have the capacity to help an estimated 29% of eligible Chicago region households, leaving nearly 385,000 households unable to access assistance they need.
- 35% of residential foreclosures in Chicago are on 2- to 6-unit buildings, affecting between 9,600 and 28,900 units, many of which house renter families.
- Chicago area households headed by someone with only a high school diploma are 2.5 times more likely to be asset poor than those headed by someone with a bachelor’s degree.
- Employers need an educated workforce, yet approximately 612,000 Chicago region working-age adults do not have a high school diploma
For the full report: Donate now to help children in poverty in Chicago.
Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty
4411 N. Ravenswood
Chicago, IL 60640
research@heartlandalliance.org
www.heartlandalliance.org/research/
