Bullits [January 23, 2003]
Poor…Us?
Persistent poverty? Widespread? Right here in Jasper County?
Local boosters must have been a bit shocked when they read news reports a few weeks ago saying that, yes indeed, Jasper is among the counties where there is such a problem.
{{more}}
Jasper has been, after all, experiencing something of a boom in recent years. Population is growing. The county listed by certain criteria as “Tier Three,” meaning it’s next to the top of the most economically developed in the state.
It may soon be included in the presumably prosperous Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area. We just don’t think of our county as impoverished.
If it’s any consolation, we’re not alone, not by a long shot. The study that found “persistent poverty” in Jasper found that 92 Georgia counties—nearly all of those south of the existing Atlanta metro area—are afflicted with the problem. They are among 242 contiguous counties in seven states included in what the study terms the Southeast Region.
The continuing “Study on Persistent Poverty” was conducted by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia at the instigation of U.S. Sen. Zell Miller. Conclusions from the first phase, 18 months in the making, were released last month.
The counties identified stretch from Virginia to Mississippi, with a second phase to look at a region west of the Mississippi. Combined population of the southeastern counties is some 7.5 million.
Thus Jasper is included in a widespread area that needs help, according to the study. Poverty in the counties is measured not only by a high percentage of residents living below defined poverty lines, but also by such criteria as education, health, housing and unemployment. Disproportionate need was found throughout the region, especially among children and the elderly.
The results don’t reflect just current conditions. The researchers looked at data from the 1980 and 1990 censuses as well as the most recent to find evidence that poverty in the area is “persistent.”
The purpose of the study is to explore the need for a government initiative similar to the Appalachian Regional Commission created in 1965 or the Mississippi Delta Regional Authority created some two years ago. Not surprisingly, the study found that there is, indeed, such a need.
“It is clear that a commission similar to the ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission) is critical if persistent poverty in the southeast is ever to be addressed effectively,” says the study’s conclusion. Noting that household income in the Southeast Region is some $2,000 below that in the Appalachian and Mississippi Delta regions, just closing that gap would provide significant benefits, the study concludes.
Additional income would total some $15 billion, a half-million jobs would be added—and state and local governments would pick up $1 billion in taxes and $2.2 billion would be returned to the federal treasury.
We in Jasper generally don’t think of being in the same economic boat as Appalachia or the Mississippi Delta. We like to think that economic development is proceeding nicely here. But it appears we possibly could use a little help.
