Hope can be hard to come by for people born into generational poverty in Boone County. In other words, if you are born poor in Boone County, you are likely to stay poor. In the national Opportunity Atlas, Boone County is at the 15th percentile nationally for likelihood to escape generational poverty. [www.opportunityatlas.org/] We are second to only the City of St. Louis when we look at GENERATIONAL POVERTY.
United Way fights to improve lives in our community and brings together more than 200 companies, the City of Columbia, Boone County, stakeholders and service agencies to address pressing issues in our community.
We know that in our community:
- Unemployment is 2% BUT
- 40% of households reporting income earn under 200% of the federal poverty level.
- ($24,120 for an adult, $40,848 for one adult with 2 kids)
- More than 40% of children in Columbia Public Schools are on free or reduced lunch.
- 51% of households in Columbia are “cost burdened” – where more than 30% of their income goes toward paying for their home (compared to 43% in Missouri).
- The child poverty rate in Boone County is 15.2%.
- Last year, a total of more than 200 kids in the Columbia Public Schools were listed as not having a stable place to sleep at some point during the school year.
- 40% of households reporting income earn under 200% of the federal poverty level.
If you would like to support United Way, go to the 2019 Mizzou United Way Campaign.