COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nearly half of Ohio households are teetering on the edge of financial disaster, according to a report by a consortium of community action agencies.
READ MORE: In the Columbus Dispatch
The annual State of Poverty in Ohio says those families lack the financial reserves to stay out of poverty for three months should they lose their job, face a medical emergency or their car breaks down.
According to a report in the Columbus Dispatch, nearly one in three Ohio households fall into poverty temporarily because of unanticipated crisis and lack of financial cushion.
The annual analysis of poverty, paired with the latest numbers of students poor enough to receive free or reduced-price lunches, show the economic recovery continues to elude many Ohioans.
“All of us face challenges whether it’s an unexpected medical expense, a babysitter who doesn’t show up, or a job loss. But to families in poverty who lack supports and resources, these unexpected challenges can become catastrophic,” said Philip E. Cole, executive director of the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies which commissions the report.
The latest numbers from data collected by the Ohio Department of Education also show nearly 788,000 children — 43 percent of students statewide — receive subsidized meals this school year.
That’s a 1 percent drop from the 2013-2014 school year, but the fifth year in a row the rate has hovered above 42 percent. A decade ago less than a third qualified for the lunch program.
The school lunch program, funded by the federal government, serves students considered to be economically disadvantaged based on their family income. The participation rate is considered one of the best measures of economic well-being of families with school-age children while poverty is a strong indicator of student success.