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Media reporting on the extremely high poverty rate in Rochester is nothing new. The above average poverty rate has been an ongoing problem for decades despite massive amounts of money being spent by both government agencies and nonprofit organizations.
Most anti-poverty efforts focus on providing programs and services to low-income people with needs today. While these programs are important and necessary, they fail to address the underlying causes of poverty, and they fail to develop strategies to reduce the poverty rate going forward.
The reality is that no matter how many people are helped by efforts to provide food, clothing, healthcare, transportation, housing and handouts of money, these do not reduce the poverty rate. Tax credits are often touted by government officials as an immediate way to reduce poverty. This is simply not true. While tax credits do help people in need, they will not reduce the poverty rate long-term. It’s a band-aid approach that fails to address the underlying cause of poverty which is the inability of people to get decent jobs that pay enough so they can live above the poverty rate because they do not have the necessary education. Raising the minimum wage, a favorite initiative of elected officials, is not the solution.
It is important to recognize the difference between helping people in need today and doing something that will diminish the number of people living in poverty in the future. The poverty cycle must be broken if success lowering the high poverty rate is to be realized.
Poverty is measured by levels of income. Therefore, to reduce the poverty rate, it is necessary to find ways for people to earn enough money to live middle class or better lives. There is one way, and only one way, to accomplish this. The answer is education.
If individuals are to have any hope of living above the poverty rate, they must be educated so they can get jobs that make it possible for them to earn enough money. For various reasons, it is too late to do this with most of today’s working adults. It is simply too late for them.
So, what can be done?
Efforts must begin with today’s pre-kindergarten children to ensure they successfully make it through their school years, graduate from high school, graduate from college or get training in the skilled trades. If this happens, these kids will be able to get jobs that allow them to earn enough money to live decent lives way above the poverty level.
To be successful, this will require a strategic plan with proper implementation and evaluation at each step.
It should begin with good pre-k programs for all kids. This is the foundation for success long-term while in school.
Summer programs for kids between pre-k and kindergarten are also very important and must be provided. Rochester is fortunate to have such a program, The Greater Rochester Summer Learning Association does an excellent job, but sufficient funding is necessary to expand it so all children can be included.
Once these children start school, mentoring programs must be established, age appropriate, that work with them throughout their entire school years. Mentoring programs will help students gain confidence, deal with difficulties they face, and gain motivation to succeed in school.
Kids must be motivated to do well in school. This can be done by teaching kids about careers and the connection between having a good career and earning enough money to live a nice life. They must understand the importance of doing well in school and how that will impact their adult lives. It is important for them to learn about different career choices, so they are motivated to do well in school and are excited about their future.
Imagine if today’s three- and four-year-old children were to have these programs, understand career options and become self-motivated to do well in school.
Young children need guidance and must have hope for their future. It will make a difference. Making it through school successfully will make it possible for these kids to be able to join the workforce and live middle class or better lives.
If programs like these are not implemented, society will continue to fail these kids and they will be more likely to live lives in poverty which will keep the poverty rate extremely high, just as it has for the past several decades.
Although it’s not rocket science, it won’t be easy. It will take dedicated people, an effective strategy and proper implementation. It will take at least 20 years to have an impact, but that impact will be measurable, and it will be ongoing. It can be done and if it is done correctly, it will reduce Rochester’s very high poverty rate.
If today’s anti-poverty initiatives such as the Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative, (RMAPI) were to grasp an understanding of this concept and focus on implementing and managing programs like these instead of wasting time and taxpayer money on vague things like upward mobility that have not worked and can’t be measured, we would all be so much better off and Rochester’s very high poverty rate would be reduced significantly.
Summary of necessary steps
- Pre-K programs for all kids
- Summer program between Pre-K and Kindergarten
- Age-appropriate career opportunities education for all grades
- Mentoring programs from kindergarten through graduation
Michael Bloch
Fairport
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YES to all of the above. However, I would add ‘earliest’ intervention. Research has shown that providing support & resources for parents from the very beginning, conception to pre-school, has tremendous benefits in life-long success. Home visits from health, education, and social work professionals can arm parents with resources for helping their children with the language, cognitive, and emotional development necessary for success in school and beyond. So much happens developmentally from 0-3 – this is the time for support and intervention. Why wait for pre-school?
Michael:
While I agree with most of what you have said, I believe you have left out the elephant in the room. Poverty will not be undone on the back of education, kindergarten or high school, when children are dealing with the daily trauma of poverty and violence. To turn this around we need to address poverty from multiple angles such as living wages for all workers, health care for all, housing that is truly affordable, streets that are safe, and so.
Yes, let us do better at education, but until we face the economic inequities created by hundreds of years of inequitable wealth distribution I fear that education alone will not fix the challenges we face.
I cannot disagree with Mr. Bloch’s educational recommendations to achieve better educational outcomes. I would add one for greater emphasis and that is reading at the earliest possible level. Reading and listening comprehension are the keys to all learning. It is not just a problem for schoolchildren. According to David Cay Johnston the median reading comprehension level for ADULTS in America is about sixth grade level. In all areas I check, Davids’s research and data are always verifiable. When half of our people are below sixth grade level in reading, or I see surveys where 30% college freshman have no idea about the Holocaust and 40% think we were on Germany’s side in WW II fighting against Russia, it is depressing.
I agree safety net programs, as now constituted, have not ended poverty. One problem is administrative hassle and being made to feel less than. We will spend a thousand dollars administratively to make sure someone does not receive a dollar they may not be entitled to.
We will see this on steroids with massive cuts to Medicaid.
However, I do believe we can conquer poverty. Many nations have nearly done it that are much less wealthy than us. Most of the safety net programs are subsiding WAGES from very rich employers. California may have the biggest problem with affordable housing due to greedy market forces and regulations or lack thereof, but that is true in many large urban areas. In 2024 CA increased the minimum wage to $16.50 an hour and fast-food workers to $20 an hour. As is always the case the doom predictions did not happen. Instead, CA passed Japan to become the fourth largest economy in the world. In NY, the Fight for Fifteen began in 2012. Adjusted for inflation that would be well north of $20 an hour now. When more than two thirds of our economy is based on consumer demand, this should be the first step in reducing poverty permanently.