Del. kids in poverty face woes

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Report: Low-income children here fare worse than elsewhere
By HIRAN RATNAYAKE, The News Journal

While Larissa White looks forward to the colder months, it's not because she likes to play in the snow.

Colder days mean fewer encounters with drug dealers and other shady neighborhood characters as she walks home from school.

Larissa lives in the 19802 ZIP code -- an area within the Wilmington city limits with a reputation for crime and limited resources.

"I've seen people get shot, and I see people fighting every day," she said. "But it's safer in the cold. That's when they're not out as much."

The 16-year-old's experience mirrors those of other Delaware children, according to a new study released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that reports children here from low-income households fare worse in health care, education and neighborhood and family structure than kids in 44 other states.

The report defined poor children as those living in families earning 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold, currently about $41,300 for a family of four.

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1. Median household income is $46,326

So we're talking about nearly half the country.

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/007419.html

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2. Its prob because of the cost of living in Delaware.

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3. Median in the northeast is $50,000

So? I don't think people realize the cost of living is outrageous all across the west too. This is what people live on. This is reality for the majority of the country. The median for white people is $60,000, for most minorities it's $30,000. That's why most white people don't understand working class America.

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4. And, most low-income families work multiple jobs to reach that median threshold

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5. Median. Half. That's my point.

A lot of people. Not just a problem "those people" have. Lots and lots of people are living in horrible conditions.

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6. Truly, I do not know what it takes to get across that none of the

election buzz means anything if the economy is not functioning.

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7. What's not functioning is concern and action on behalf of poor folk.

Lacking at DU as well as elsewhere.