RELEASE ON RECEIPT
POVERTY PICTURE HAS CHANGED ACROSS VIRGINIA,
WITH CHILDREN HARDEST HIT

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Nov. 15 -- The number of children living
in poverty in Virginia grew by a staggering 45 percent from 1989 to
1993, according to a just-released study by the University of
Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.  Children fell
below the poverty line at a much faster rate than adults, with the
number of impoverished Virginians increasing overall by an estimated
28 percent for the same four-year period.
	"The good news is that federal and state programs that are
taking care of the elderly are doing a good job," said Michael A.
Spar, the author of the report, "New Poverty Estimates for States &
Local Areas."
	"Social Security and Medicare are doing what they are
supposed to do.  But children have fallen through the gap.  They
don't have a big Washington lobby.  They don't vote.  So, to a
certain extent, they've been overlooked."
	Also surprising was that poverty rates fell in many rural
counties and small cities in the Shenandoah Valley and southwest and
central Virginia, while rising dramatically in four of the state's
largest and wealthiest suburban counties -- Fairfax, Prince William,
Chesterfield and Henrico, Spar said.  The changing picture of poverty
across the state is expected to alter the distribution of federal funds
to schools in Virginia.
	"Whatever programs policy-makers had put in place from 1989 to 
'93 to help reduce poverty did not do a great job," Spar said.
	The total number of Virginians living in poverty grew from
611,611 in 1989 to 781,769 in 1993, an increase of about 170,000
people, or 27.8 percent, according to the center's estimates.  But
the number of children between the ages of 5 and 17 living in want
grew by about 45,00 or 45 percent, during the same period, increasing
from 134,522 to 180,329.
	In 13 jurisdictions, mostly in small, rural counties scattered
throughout the state, the school-age poverty rate fell from 1989 to
1993.  And in another 49 jurisdictions, mostly in southwest Virginia
along the U.S. Interstate-81 corridor, in central Virginia and in
parts of Tidewater and the Eastern Shore, there was a moderate (less
than 20 percent) increase in the school-age poverty rate.
	But in 13 jurisdictions, the increase in the school-age
poverty rate jumped by more that 60 percent.  In most of the
jurisdictions the poverty rates were relatively low in both years,
despite the increase.  For example, Manassas Park's school-age
poverty rate more than doubled from 1989 to 1993, but even at 8.1
percent was twice the state average.
	Spar's report analyzes recently released Census Bureau
estimates that are based on tax information supplied by the Internal
Revenue Service.
	The new poverty estimates were made after Congress realized it
needed more frequent information on poverty and its effect on children
than that provided every 10 years by the census.  In its efforts to
address 
the needs of the nation's schools, Congress passed Public Law
103-382, The "Improving America's Schools Act" in September
1994.  The law specifies the distribution of federal funds to school
districts based on the number of children from 5 to 17 whose families
fall below the government's official poverty line.
	 In 1963, a family of four earning less than $3,100 was
considered to be living in poverty, while by 1996, inflation had
pushed the poverty line up to $15,911.
	Among the factors Spar cites that led to the increase in
children's poverty in Virginia:
	*The minimum wage did not rise as much as inflation.
"The working poor got poorer," Spar said.  Families that had
been perched on the margin fell over the edge as the cost of living
increased while their wages stayed the same.
	*The divorce rate continued at an annual clip of about 5
percent, leading to a continuing rise in the number of female-headed
households, whose average income is significantly below that of
households headed by men.
	*While the number of births overall did not rise
significantly during that period, the number of illegitimate births
reached historic levels.
	*Virginia has welcomed record numbers of immigrants since
1990, especially in the Washington, Richmond and Hampton Roads
metropolitan areas.  Many new immigrants coming from Latin America and
Asia -- in particular, El Salvador, Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam
-- have large families and start out on the bottom rung of the
American economic ladder.
                               ###
	For more information or a copy of the report, call Michael
Spar at (804) 982-5585.
                                                     November 14, 1997