The role of Welfare in Attracting People
A persistent myth in the Duluth Superior area is that the welfare benefits available are a draw to poor people from further south. Sometimes the myth says we’re attracting people from Minneapolis, sometimes Chicago, sometimes even Detroit or Mississippi. But a lot of research in the last few years says that just isn’t true.An editorial in the Duluth News Tribune on November 18 put a lot of that data together. While that editorial isn’t available online, one key portion of it read:
“The perception is wrong. People are not moving to St. Louis County because the county gives out welfare like candy,” Ann Busche, St. Louis County’s director of public health and human services, told the News Tribune on Friday.
“Backing up her assertion is a county caseload analysis showing the number of participants in the Minnesota Family Investment Program, the state’s welfare program, to have declined steadily and in half, from 6,527 in 2003 to 3,295 in 2007. “If individuals are moving to Duluth, it is not because of financial assistance they wish to receive,” the analysis reads. “There are actually 3,232 less people on MFIP today than there were four years ago.”
“The statistics also address — and dispel — the myth that “generous benefits are drawing in people from Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit.” In compliance with federal workfare laws, the four states where the cities are located all require recipients to work, with some exceptions for those caring for a newborn. Under the workfare formula, Wisconsin grants the lowest benefit, followed by Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois, suggesting that welfare seekers should be flocking away from, not toward, the Twin Ports.”
And other recent research shows that poverty is a persistent problem in the Duluth Superior area. Nonprofits that assist in the region believe they can make a difference, but that it’s an uphill battle. Take a look at the United Way of Greater Duluth’s recent “Community Impact Survey” available from their website.
