Safety net said to keep 1.4 million Georgians above poverty line

The state and federal safety net has caught about 1.4 million Georgians — 410,000 of them children – and has been keeping them above the poverty line, concluded a report from a Washington, D.C. think tank.

The poverty rate in the state has been trimmed from 30.6 percent to 16.2 percent in the three years after the recession ended, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Using the most recent data available, the center, a liberal-leaning advocacy group said the largest group lifted above poverty were the elderly. About 730,000 older Georgians receive Social Security payments, the center said.

Some help in Georgia has come in short-term programs, some in longer term impacts like increases in the birth weight of babies, the reduction of infant mortality and improvement of children's test scores.

Among the programs included in the center's definition of safety net:

— Social Security

— the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (once known as food stamps)

— the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit

— Supplemental Security Income

— federal rental assistance.

The combination of programs cushioned the economic blow across the country, cutting poverty by more than half in 41 states, the center said.

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Michael Kanell

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