Subscribe to the RSS feed.Oregon Gets “C” for Expanding Economic Opportunity
BY DAVID ROSENFELD – Special Correspondent to Community Health Priorities
Oregonians are struggling to save money, buy their own homes and afford health insurance, according to a bleak picture presented by the Corporation for Enterprise Development when it released its Assets and Opportunity Scorecard recently.
Compared to the rest of the country, Oregon received a C, revealing severe disparities in several indicators of financial well being and economic opportunity of its residents.
“In even the best of times, way too many Oregonians struggle to obtain economic well being,” said Jerralynn Ness, executive director of Community Action Organization in Washington County. “The key to close these gaps is advocating for policies and services so all Oregonians have an opportunity to thrive.”
The scorecard analyzed 58 outcome measures divided into five categories: financial assets and income, businesses and jobs, housing and homeownership, health care and education.
The lowest grade came in health care with 19.7 percent of Oregon’s residents uninsured.
Just nine states fared worse.
Close to 40 percent of low-income parents are also uninsured.
For these and other measures, the state received a D in the area of health care.
“Although the scorecard doesn’t specifically address hunger, if we improve Oregonians assets and ability to thrive, it will improve families’ ability to put food on the table,” said Patty Whitney-Wise, executive director of Oregon Hunger Task Force.
The highest grades came in education, businesses and jobs. The state ranked ninth in women’s business ownership rate and seventh in four-year degree income.
“Oregon has made progress in key areas – food, housing, payday lending, kids health care,” said Janet Byrd, executive director of Neighborhood Partnerships. “But working families are losing ground in these hard times. We can and must do more.”
Despite a few positive outcomes, the state has a long way to go. In terms of asset poverty, 26 percent of Oregonians could not live for three months if they lost their income, the scorecard found. Just seven other states fared worse. Close to 17 percent of Oregonians have no savings.
To solve some of these problems, advocates suggested specific policy improvements including the following: Expand the earned income tax credit. Lift asset limits for public benefits. And promote and preserve homeownerships.
But advocates acknowledged that what Oregon’s most vulnerable residents need most comes in the form of public assistance, something particularly hard to come by in these rough economic times.
Rev. Lowell Greathouse of Ecumenical Ministries said budgets are moral documents. “They reflect moral judgments,” Greathouse said. “Scorecards tell us how we are doing. They take the pulse of our society and give us definition to things that are often invisible in our midst.”
For the complete Oregon scorecard click here. (http://scorecard.cfed.org/state_data/oregon.php)
