By SHARON PARKS
September 05, 2008 12:00 am In northern Michigan today, more families are struggling to put food on their tables and lacking basic necessities than any time in the past 15 years. That's the conclusion of a new U.S. Census Bureau report, which found that the poverty rate in our state has jumped to 14 percent in 2007, climbing to levels we haven't seen since recessions in the early 1980s and early 1990s. The situation is especially dire for children, 19 percent of whom, or nearly one in five, live in poverty. In Grand Traverse County, 7,200 people live in poverty, including more than 1,600 children. That's enough people to fill the Milliken Auditorium 18 times. The situation has gone from bad to worse. Michigan's unemployment rate is the highest in the country, rising from 7.2 percent to 8.5 percent over the past year, and food pantries and other emergency food sites report growing demand and short supplies. A record 1.3 million people in Michigan -- nearly one in every eight -- currently receive Food Assistance, formerly called Food Stamps. In Grand Traverse County, 4,856 households rely on the program. As alarming as these numbers are, there are steps we can take to ease suffering and spur economic growth. In fact, economists say that the surest way to help the economy is to help those most in need. "If you're somebody who lives paycheck to paycheck, you're more likely to spend that extra dollar," said Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, commenting earlier this year on the effectiveness of directing funds to low-income people as an economic stimulus tool. When Congress returns this month it should heed Bernanke's words and quickly pass another economic stimulus bill providing extra weeks of jobless benefits for workers in high-unemployment states like Michigan, a temporary increase in Food Assistance for low-income families and extra help for poor families facing skyrocketing heating bills this winter. These measures will not only jump-start the economy, they will help needy families in northern Michigan. For example, despite soaring grocery prices, the average Food Assistance benefit is still only about $1 per person per meal. And poor families are facing a projected 25 percent increase in home heating costs this winter. In Lansing, state leaders should expand the new state Earned Income Tax Credit, which rewards work for lower-income families. The first credits will be available when the 2008 tax returns are filed. For children in families where parents cannot work or cannot find employment, the level of support must rise. The Family Independence Program has been frozen at 1990 levels with the first, small across-the-board increase set for Oct. 1. Inflation has stripped this program of most of its buying power and it simply must increase to pull about 70,000 of our poorest households out of desperate circumstances. These issues must be at the top of our leaders' agendas. We owe it to the 1,600 children and their families in the Traverse City area who are living in poverty. About the author: Sharon Parks is president and CEO of the Michigan League for Human Services, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group for low-income citizens. About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.
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