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Child poverty rate shame for region
Editorial
The Republican, September 27, 2007

A recent U.S. Census Bureau survey showing Springfield ranking sixth worst in the nation for the percentage of its children living in poverty is a report card that should make the whole region shudder.

Nearly 45 percent of people under age 18 in Springfield lived below the poverty level in 2006, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The child poverty rate for the state's third largest city was more than three times higher than the state's rate of 12.4 percent and more than twice the national rate of 18.3 percent.

The new figures based on a sampling of residents - show a big increase in the child poverty rate for Springfield compared to those from the 2000 federal census when the figure stood at 31.6 percent. Census officials say the margin of error is large, with the actual rate varying from 38.3 percent to 50.9 percent. Nevertheless, the numbers are a stark reminder that Western Massachusetts is in trouble.

If nothing is done to reverse this trend, the implications for the city - and the region for which it serves as a hub - are dire indeed. Imagine, for a moment, a future where the majority of people are poor and undereducated, upon whose backs will be the burdens of fueling the economy and social services.

"Down the road there's going to be a negative impact in terms of spending on crime, education and social services," said Nancy Folbre, an economist at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst who studies the economies of families.

Since the bulk of the region's future workforce must, necessarily, come from cities, it is critical that the educational system - starting as early as preschool - prepare graduates to participate fully in a dynamic, knowledge-based economy. And as Springfield goes, so goes the region.

A number of public and private initiatives to improve early education and boost economic development and job creation are under way to address the rising poverty rate among children. Now is the time to redouble those efforts.

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