One in four Floridians live near poverty line
Most Floridians living in poverty have families, and the situation has been made worse by an 11 percent decline in incomes during the downturn.
The findings by a research group at Florida International University conclude that poverty in the Sunshine State disproportionately affects African-American and Latino residents. About 23 percent of Florida's 18 million residents live in what the federal government considers poverty or "near poverty," defined as earning $14,000 or less.
The study by the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy at FIU, the local branch of a labor-backed group, found about 70 percent of Floridians in poverty or near-poverty also live in households with families. And the research found African-Americans are two or three times more likely in Florida to live in poverty than is the rest of the population compared to the white population, and that Latinos are twice as likely to live in poverty.
The report noted median income in Florida declined 11 percent between 2007 and 2011. The research is based on Census data.
DOUGLAS HANKS
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