New report shows
how much the quality of life has slipped for Charlestown children
By
Will Collette
SPEAKING OF KIDS: the Chariho budget passed in all three towns. This will mean less money for the system than last year which is one reason why conservatives and the CCA Party supported passage of the budget. Click here for the numbers.
Even though our CCA Party-controlled town government acts as if nearly everyone in Charlestown was an affluent retiree, the true nature of Charlestown is far different. Working class families are, far and away, the majority of the town’s population.
Even though our CCA Party-controlled town government acts as if nearly everyone in Charlestown was an affluent retiree, the true nature of Charlestown is far different. Working class families are, far and away, the majority of the town’s population.
In
fact, of Charlestown’s
year-round population of 7,827, there are 4,623 working adults
(59%), another 486 who are disabled from work (6.2%) and 1,506 children (19.2%),
with 1,383 senior citizens comprising only 17.7% of Charlestown’s population.
Yesterday, I reported on the huge spike in Charlestown’s already consistently high
unemployment rate based on new RIDLT data. Today, we have the new
report from Kids First Rhode Island, a statewide group whose annual
inventory of the state of the state’s children also includes town-by-town data,
including two
pages of Charlestown data that compares Charlestown to the rest of the
state.
The
data for Charlestown shows:
- Charlestown rent costs climbed from $1,025 in 2010 to $1,653 in 2013
- The number of Charlestown kids on SNAP (Food Stamps) climbed by 17% between 2010 and 2013
- The number of Chariho kids getting a free school breakfast jumped by 29%
- Charlestown infants born at highest risk doubled
- Comparing 2012 data to the 2000 Census twelve years ago, median income in Charlestown rose from 72,074 in 2000 to only $73,000 in 2012. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median income would have to climb to $96,096 just to keep pace with inflation. That’s a huge net loss of real income.
- Part of the explanation could be a dramatic growth in the poverty rate among Charlestown children. In 2000, Charlestown’s childhood poverty rate was 4.7%. Over 12 years, that rate jumped to 20.6% in 2012.
I’m
not making any of these numbers up. I would challenge the Charlestown Citizens
Alliance to make the same claim about its projected view of Charlestown as
white, elderly, retired and well-to-do when its elected representatives who
have controlled Charlestown for the past six years make public policy
decisions.
I’m
talking about special favors and deals done on behalf of favored individuals
and pockets of neighborhoods that just happen to be CCA supporters and donors.
They comprise, at most, about 15% of Charlestown’s population but more likely
resemble that fabled 1% youy’ve heard so much about.
On
the other hand, CCA Party policies punish small businesses, working people and
families with children. You would think this is a bad political strategy – to
favor such a small cadre while screwing or ignoring at least 85% of the townspeople. However, maybe it's the shrewd way to go.
In
the last three election cycles, the avid engagement and support of the CCA
Party’s entitled followers has trumped the and inattentiveness of
the rest of the distracted electorate, especially working class people who are too damned
tired to pay much attention what many consider to be petty town crap.
The
CCA Party isn’t really all that interested in census data or for that matter
any data at all, except the data that shows up in the campaign
finance disclosure forms the CCA Party files with the RI Board of Elections.
That data shows that there are really two Charlestowns – the one that shows up
in the CCA Party roll of political donors (especially the non-residents) and those that actually live in
Charlestown and try to make a living.