A 2023 Community Solutions survey invited residents in Cuyahoga County with household incomes below $35,000—just below the Federal Poverty Level for a family of five—to share their experiences on managing their financial resources. Individuals living on a low income must make tough choices when trying to make ends meet; COVID-19 only exacerbated issues of poverty. Leaving behind a recession and inflation, struggles to cover basic necessities, take care of health, and pay for emergencies have worsened for Cuyahoga residents living on a low income. How do we measure the differences between conditions before the pandemic and now?
The Center for Community Solutions and Step Forward partnered to collect new information directly from low-income residents of Cuyahoga County about the financial issues and challenges they face. This report is part of a series examining changes in data between pre-COVID 2019 data and 2023 post-COVID data.
The percentage of individuals who would be able to use funds from a bank account or cash to cover an emergency decreased from 2019 (37 percent) to 2023 (28 percent).
Being able to afford to cover an emergency is a difficult task for many residents and especially for households with low incomes. Not surprisingly, the percentage of individuals who would be able to use funds from a bank account or cash to cover an emergency decreased from 2019 (37 percent) to 2023 (28 percent). This may be due to events like job lay-offs, the inability to work due to health issues, and an increase in prices for things like food and housing since COVID.
Without enough financial resources to make ends meet, families rely on credit, friends, family and selling their belongings to cover unexpected costs. Unfortunately, too many families also must make tough decisions about everyday costs as well.
The most common trade-offs that individuals had to make during both years were between food and either utilities, transportation, or housing.
Residents with low-income often choose between food and another expense
Low-income residents often must make trade-offs when they cannot afford costs for all their necessities. People living on low incomes are having to make the same hard choices in 2023 as they did in 2019. The most common trade-offs that individuals had to make during both years were between food and either utilities, transportation, or housing. The percentage of individuals who had to make these trade-offs increased between 2019 and 2023.
While choosing between medical care or housing was not one of the most common trade-offs for low-income residents in Cuyahoga County, there was an increase between 2019 and 2023 in the percentage of individuals who had to make this choice. This may be due to increased costs related to the health effects of COVID, and the need for COVID-19 test kits, vaccinations, and other medical supplies.When looking at who had to make tradeoffs to afford necessities by race in Cuyahoga County, it becomes clear this burden is not experienced equally. Nearly three quarters of Hispanic/Latino respondents reported having to make tradeoffs, compared to two thirds of Black respondents, and 58 percent of white respondents.
Top challenges remain the same, but more people are experiencing them
In addition to having to make tough choices to be able to cover necessities; previous challenges to afford basic needs like food, utilities and housing have increased since the onset of the COVID pandemic. The highest-ranking problems experienced by individuals in both 2019 and 2023 were the same, including: falling behind on utilities, or on rent or mortgage, having too little money for food, and making credit card payments.While the challenges remained the same, the percentage of individuals who experienced these issues and others increased within this 5-year timespan. This increase is likely due to other COVID-related issues that have had a disparate impact on low-income residents. For instance, Cuyahoga residents living on a low income reported missing work for reasons related to COVID (21 percent) or struggling with health problems related to COVID (14 percent).
Other noteworthy issues included the increase of serious problems with mental illness and physical disability in 2023, likely the result of the collective trauma of a pandemic and its negative impacts on finances and health. Finding services to support older adults also became a challenge for 11 percent of survey takers. With nonprofit services being stretched thin during COVID, this comes as no surprise.
Finding services to support older adults also became a challenge for 11 percent of survey takers.
During COVID, abuse and neglect of children, domestic or intimate partner violence were also of huge concern to practitioners and providers. This was especially due to pandemic lockdowns and the need to quarantine. The 2023 survey showed less than five percent of residents reported a serious problem with either of these issues. However, the actual number of individuals who face these challenges could be much higher.
Race, ethnicity, and financial stability
Due to the systematic disinvestment and exclusion of wealth building opportunities for Black Americans and other communities of color, poverty and race are linked together. When exploring the experiences of those living in poverty, it is critical to analyze these experiences with race and ethnicity in mind. In Cuyahoga County, the challenges most commonly experienced by Black, white, and Hispanic/Latino individuals were similar, including struggling to pay for food, utilities, credit cards, and housing. However, in Cuyahoga County individuals of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity reported experiencing these issues at higher rates than their non-Hispanic counterparts. Black and white residents had similar rates of experiencing these problems, with a few notable exceptions; a greater proportion of white respondents reported struggling with credit card payments, as well as mental illness and a greater proportion of Black residents reported struggling with paying their rent or mortgage.
While it is evident when comparing Hispanic/Latino, white and Black residents survey answers from 2019 and 2023 the population showed increased rates of experiencing problems, breaking them out by race tells a more nuanced story. For example, there was an increase from 2019 to 2023 across all three groups in having too little money for food however more Hispanic/Latino respondents experienced this than their white and Black counterparts.
Step Forward helps people find hope, believe in their future, and take steps to make it a reality. As the State’s designated anti-poverty agency for Cuyahoga County, Step Forward is tasked and trusted to lead the fight on the ground against poverty in our community. To learn more about the programs and services they provide to the community visit www.stepforwardtoday.org
Read the 2023 Poverty Speaks series
Part 1 focuses on the challenges people living below the poverty line in Cuyahoga County face when trying to move out of poverty.
Part 2 focuses on the tough choices our neighbors who live in poverty have to make.
Part 3 focuses on the help our neighbors who live in poverty need and what they get.
Part 4 focuses on how on nearly every economic measure, people of color fare worse than whites in Cuyahoga County.
