A HARD LOOK AT POVERTY IN ABQ

Poverty in Albuquerque is 51% higher than the national poverty rate with a total of 107,372 people living below the federal poverty level. The four-county metro area-Bernalillo, Sandoval, Valencia, and Torrance- have 163,511 people living in poverty, or approximately 64,000 households.

What would it take to drop the poverty rate down by at least 10%? How do we move 6,400 households permanently out of poverty? Who does what? How are economic development and poverty reduction outcomes and strategies connected to the most important goals of the city?

Poverty limits the rate of growth household incomes, business profitability, and tax revenues. It drives crime rates, diminishes graduation rates, increases homelessness, and hampers employers’ abilities to hire qualified candidates.

Poverty drives crime rates, diminishes graduation rates, and increases homelessness. Furthermore, subsidy programs have a built-in disincentive known as the Cliff Effect that generates a phantom workforce in ABQ —people who want to work, can work, but will not or cannot because they will lose more childcare, Medicaid, food stamps etc. than they can replace with a new job, increased hours, and/or taking a raise.

The Circles approach to changing poverty, and these seemingly ingrained social challenges, is to work together over time to create stronger, more secure families and individuals in our community.