Why track Poverty, Unemployment, and SNAP?
Different dimensions of economic challenges
Stadium Impact uses three indexes to measure economic challenges: poverty rates, unemployment rates, and usage of SNAP. Each figure captures the challenges facing communities in a slightly different way. They also rise and fall due to different factors. Other demographic information is used as well. Most notable is median household income, but also population size, and more.Poverty
The poverty rate is the percentage of a population that makes less than a threshold amount of money. The specific threshold varies by size of family, and number of children [1]. In general, people find themselves below the poverty threshold on a temporary basis [2]. Poverty and unemployment don’t have a complete overlap. Workers below the poverty threshold reflect underemployment, or a job market that pays poorly. Of note, the publicly available hourly pay rates for Barclays Center employees would register as low income [4].SNAP
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), colloquially known as Food Stamps, helps low-income people purchase food. Out of the three economic challenge factors tracked, SNAP users make up the highest proportion of the population. Many working people receive SNAP, even if they are over the poverty threshold. The relationship between poverty and SNAP is explored in the chart above. People who are above the poverty threshold that receive SNAP benefits are almost equal in number to those below the poverty threshold.Unemployment
Unemployment is correlated with poverty and SNAP benefits, but not entirely [5]. Whether an unemployed person finds themselves below the poverty threshold, or in a position to receive SNAP benefits, is largely correlated with their income and savings prior to unemployment. It is also related to their length of unemployment, which can vary widely, and by a number of factors [3]. Ultimately, unemployment reflects the availability of jobs in a labor market. This does not account for how well the jobs support employees - low-paying jobs are still jobs.
Citations
[1] Historical Poverty Thresholds[2] Poverty is Primarily a Temporary Condition
[3] The Biggest Predictor of how long You'll be Unemployed is When You Lose Your Job
[4] Hourly pay at Barclays Center, via GlassDoor
[5] The Relationship Between Snap and Work