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click image for full size click image for full size Other articles in Part 2 The best and worst of times Why are some people unable to earn a living Poverty research Education plays key role in poverty Minimum wage fails to keep up Do the poor pay taxes? Graph: Full-time minimum wage falls below poverty line Related links Out of Reach - National Low-Income Housing Coalition

The best and worst of times story by Tom Gentle When asked why many people appear to be worse off in a booming economy, a number of people who work for agencies that serve the poor throughout the state pointed to four major causes: changes in the economy, high housing prices, lack of public transportation and inadequate education. Oregon's changing economy "In southern Oregon, a lot of kids used to get decent paying jobs in the timber industry right out of high school. As the timber jobs declined, the new jobs required higher skills and advanced degrees. A lot of people simply got left behind," said Marty Young, former executive director of the Umpqua Community Action Network. What was true in southern Oregon is also true for the entire state. Oregon's economy is undergoing a basic long-term change. The once dominant natural resource-based economy, especially timber, has declined significantly while high tech has flourished. Employment in the lumber and wood products industry dropped 35 percent between 1986 and 1996, according to a report by the Oregon Employment Department. Declining timber supplies and mill closures caused many job losses-as the supply of old growth dwindled on the south coast, for instance, Coos Bay lost six of its seven sawmills. In addition, according to the Employment Department report, automation eliminated a significant number of sawmill jobs. The report noted that modernized mills have been able to cut employment by half or more and actually increase production. The new jobs created by the high tech industry are largely concentrated in the Portland area. In the rest of the state, especially the rural areas, the new jobs are primarily in the service sector-loosely defined to include retail sales, clerical and administrative positions, food service jobs and medical services, among others. In Coos County, where timber was king, the largest employer today is the Bay Area Hospital. Tourism, which has become an important part of Oregon's economy, is primarily a service industry offering seasonal and part-time jobs. In rural areas where tourism is a major part of the economy, the connection between poverty and service industry employment is especially strong. The main problem is that service industry jobs simply don't pay enough, according to Sharon Miller, executive director of the Central Oregon Community Action Agency Network in Redmond. She cited an Oregon Career Network study of job placements by her agency and others that found only 12 percent of retail sales positions paid enough after two years on the job to lift a family of four out of poverty. In other service jobs, only 23 percent paid above the poverty level for a family of four. One factor in the low wages associated with service industry jobs has been the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with inflation, according to Laura Connolly, OSU economist. "In the 1970s, a full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage made enough money to keep a family of three out of poverty. That same family would be poor today," Connolly said. (See "Minimum wage fails to keep up," page 9. ) The rising cost of housing Oregon has one of the highest rates of existing home price appreciation in the United States, according to a 1997 report by the Oregon Employment Department. While wages barely kept up with inflation, home prices jumped 88 percent between 1990 and 1997. According to a widely used standard of personal finance, people should spend no more than 30 percent of their gross income for rent or house payments. Nearly 40 percent of Oregon's lowest income homeowners spend more than 30 percent on housing, according to the 1999 Oregon Benchmark Performance Report. Rents have gone up, too. Fair market rent for a 2-bedroom unit ranges from $477 a month in many counties east of the Cascades to $645 a month in Multnomah and surrounding counties, according to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The report concludes that 45 percent of Oregon renters must spend more than 30 percent of their income to live in a 2-bedroom unit at fair market rent. An influx of new residents is one factor in the higher cost of housing. Pendleton and Hermiston have attracted a number of new employers in recent years, bringing job seekers and creating demand for housing and driving up land values. "Ten years ago this was an inexpensive place to live, but that's not the case now," said Denny Newell, director of the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon. The National Low Income Housing Coalition found that full-time workers needed an hourly wage of $7.08 to afford a 1-bedroom apartment in Umatilla County, $9.17 an hour for a 2-bedroom unit. Lack of public transportation Public transportation for the poor isn't about airports and Amtrak. Rather, it's about getting around locally-from home to work, to shopping, to school, to medical and other services. Outside the main metropolitan areas in the Willamette Valley, getting around locally requires a car. Lack of public transportation is a major problem for the poor in central Oregon, according to Terry Lynch, former director of the community action agency in that area. "A lot of people can't afford to live in Bend even though they work there. They depend on an automobile. Many single moms drive an old car with no insurance to motel jobs in Bend," he said. Klamath Falls is the only city east of the Cascades with a fixed route bus system that serves surrounding communities, according to Robin Phillips, intercity transportation program manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Other eastside cities-such as Ontario, Baker City, Burns, and John Day-have limited public transportation, many of them dial-a-ride in nature. These systems may operate only a few days a week, offer service only within the city and not to outlying areas, or serve only the disabled or elderly. None of them, says Phillips, is capable of providing for daily commuting due to lack of funding, public interest, or organizational focus. There are no government-funded public transportation programs aimed at the poor like there are for seniors and the disabled, according to Phillips. Lack of education and work experience Jeralyn Ness, executive director of the Washington County Community Action Organization, points to an "education and skill gap" that prevents people who need work from getting jobs that pay a living wage. "We have plenty of entry level jobs in high tech (in Washington County), but companies recruit outside the state because the people here who need jobs don't have the required skills," Ness said. Hers is a refrain heard around the state. The lack of appropriate education and experience is a major obstacle that keeps many from escaping the ranks of the poor. But the solution is not as simple as sending people to community college or vocational training. High tech companies in the Portland area offer training programs, but many of the poor need to improve their basic literacy skills-reading, writing, arithmetic-before they get technical training, according to Ness. Others need help in building their self-esteem and confidence, according to Marty Young. For many years, Young conducted a confidence clinic for women on welfare in southwestern Oregon. Many of the women were teen parents, lacked a high school diploma or any college experience and, following a divorce, had no work experience to fall back on. These women often showed poor judgment and thought they deserved less in life, according to Young. "Teaching them how to dress, get through a job interview and show up for work aren't enough if they don't feel right about themselves and engage in self-defeating behavior as a result," Young said. Equipping the poor to enter the job market is no longer enough, according to Denny Newell. The current approach, he said, is to place the poor in a job, then turn to help others without a job. "In the future, we need to help people hold on to their jobs and get promotions that bring higher pay and benefits and move them beyond the working poor," he said.   Article 1 of 7 in Part 2   back to top

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