Research Reports
Reflections on Traditional American Indian Ways, 1998
Threats to Tribal Sovereignty, 1998
Traditional American Indian Leadership: A Comparison with U.S. Governance, 1997
State Policy Affecting Low Income People
Appendix B
Rising poverty during the 1980's is due in part to economic changes that have resulted in severe wage cuts, particularly for younger adults and persons of color. Many of the new jobs being created pay low wages with no benefits. But poverty is also affected by decisions made by the state of Minnesota. Chart D tracks the steady decline in the value of two state policies that affect many low-income people--AFDC grant levels and the minimum wage.
In 1973, Minnesota's AFDC grant for a family of three was roughly equal to the federal poverty level. The poverty level is automatically adjusted each year for inflation, but the AFDC grant is not. While the cost of living had risen steadily, the basic grant has not changed since 1986. By 1994, an AFDC grant had fallen to roughly half (53%) of the poverty level. The minimum wage has suffered a similar fate. In the late 1970's, a worker who worked full- time, year-round for the minimum wage earned enough to meet or slightly exceed the poverty level for a family of three. By 1994, however, a full-time minimum wage worker could only earn 74% of the poverty level. Governor Carlson recently vetoed a modest minimum wage increase passed by the 1994 state legislature.
Whether one is working or on public assistance or both, state policy over the past 15-20 years has had the effect of driving low-income people deeper and deeper into poverty.
- Appendix A Infant Mortality
- Appendix C Resiliency and Risk Among American Indian Adolescents
The
Well-Being of American Indian Children in Minnesota: Economic Conditions,
1994
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