A new study by a nonprofit tech company is ranking Alabama as one of the worst states for poverty support in the country. SmileHub rates charities and provides resources to help donors maximize the impact of their contributions, including here in the Yellowhammer State.
Alabama ranked 48th overall in the study, which measured 20 metrics across three dimensions:
· Education and transportation availability includes access to public transportation, public schools per capita, public school spending per student, and presence of a free community college education for income and benefits
· Income and benefits includes charities for reducing poverty, per capita, share of residents living in poverty, public welfare expenditure per capita, minimum wage, individual income tax as a share of personal income, income inequality, using the Cheney index, presence of mandatory paid sick leave and presence of paid family leave
· Housing, healthcare and food includes food insecurity rate, average benchmark premiums for health insurance, presence of an expanded Medicaid policy, Medicaid spending, per capita cost of living, median monthly rent, affordable and available rental homes per 100 extremely low income households and federal rental assistance per capita
Luke Powers, a business manager for SmileHub, said there are more factors to being impoverished than income.
“Poverty is determined primarily by comparing income to a poverty threshold, which varies by country and is adjusted for family size and cost of living,” he explained. “If an individual or household earns less than this threshold, they're considered to be in poverty. Factors such as local cost of living and economic conditions also influence the measure. Additionally, access to public assistance and social services can affect whether someone is classified as living in poverty.”
In the first dimension, education and transportation availability, Alabama ranked 45th in access to public transportation. According to Alabama Arise, there is little to no investment in Alabama’s public transportation services.
Powers said the lack of public transportation leads to missed shifts at jobs, education opportunities and other services, which hinders economic advancement.
“When public transportation options are scarce, people struggle to reach employment opportunities, education and essential services, which hampers their ability to improve their economic situation. Without reliable transportation, individuals may face barriers to stable, well-paying jobs and educational advancement, perpetuating cycles of poverty,” he said.
The state ranked 44th for the share of residents living in poverty. In 2020, nonprofit group Alabama Possible found that 800,000 Alabamians, including 256,000 children, were living under the federal poverty threshold making the Yellowhammer State the fifth poorest state in the nation. Alabama Possible’s report also found that while the poverty rate in Alabama had decreased, it was still higher than the national average.
Conversely to this, Alabama ranked 27th in charities for reducing poverty per capita. Charities and organizations in the state that help with poverty alleviation include Southern Poverty Law Center, the Equal Justice Initiative and People for Care and Learning. A full list of charities and organizations can be found here.
Lack of Medicaid expansion and food insecurity rate also negatively affected Alabama’s ranking in the study. Food insecurity is defined as not having sufficient access to food of an adequate quality to meet basic needs.
“The absence of an expanded Medicaid policy and low Medicaid spending per capita impact healthcare access and affordability for residents. With a food insecurity rate of 12.4% many households are facing difficulties in obtaining adequate nutrition,” Powers said.
Medicaid expansion policies in Alabama have been a hot topic for several years, as the Yellowhammer State remains one of 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid. Due to this lack of expansion, there are nearly 300,000 Alabamians in the healthcare coverage gap.
Earlier this year, Cover Alabama, an organization comprised of over 120 community partners, consumer groups, businesses, health care providers and faith groups, wrote a letter to Gov. Kay Ivey urging her to consider closing the healthcare coverage gap.
The Yellowhammer State ranked 42nd in food insecurity rate in the report. According to Feeding America, over 800,000 Alabamians experience food insecurity with over 250,000 of them being children. Feeding America also stated those who experience food insecurity report needing over $650,000 per year to meet their food needs.
However, Powers explained Alabama’s lack of poverty support is not intentional, but rather, due to lack of resources and other issues.
“In Alabama's case, the lower ranking in poverty support is primarily due to a combination of limited resources and structural issues,” he said. “So those key factors include… limited public welfare expenditure, where Alabama ranks 45th in public welfare expenditure per capita, affecting the support available to those in need.”
According to the United States Census Bureau’s most recent poverty report, in 2022 there were nearly 38 million people living in poverty in America.
Powers said to become supportive of impoverished people, there needs to be a focus on improving access to things such as education, transportation and other essential services.
“Increasing public school funding, offering free community college education, expanding public transportation and enhancing social safety nets like affordable housing, healthcare and food security. Additionally, raising the minimum wage, ensuring paid sick leave and family leave, and addressing income inequality can help reduce poverty impact,” he said.
To read the full study and see all rankings, visit SmileHub’s website here.
