Community Solutions’ early analysis of the 2022 data released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week was mixed. Most of the good news came on Tuesday with the release of the Current Population Survey. This source includes statistics on poverty for states and the country as a whole, including both the Official Poverty Measure (OPM)...
Author: Emily Campbell (Emily Campbell)
Record Low Unemployment Statistics Leave Out Millions of Ohioans
Ohio’s unemployment rate of 3.3 percent in July 2023 was one of the lowest on record, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet this number tells only part of the story. Many Ohioans have removed themselves from the labor force completely and no longer count in official unemployment statistics. Many Ohioans have removed themselves...
Special election on August 8: why and how (and bring your ID)
Ohioans will go to the polls on Tuesday, August 8. This election is unusual. There is a single item on the ballot: Issue 1 “Elevating the Standards to Qualify for an Initiated Constitutional Amendment and to Pass a Constitutional Amendment.” As the official ballot language shows, voting “Yes” means that future constitutional amendments will need...
Cleveland’s current and future prosperity may rest on the shoulders of older workers
Workforce development efforts often target young people, focusing on the next generation of workers and the transition from school to career. These efforts will pay dividends down the line. But the fastest way to meet employer demand and fuel our economy today is to unleash the potential of the existing labor force. Older workers present...
How can we lift an Invisible Child out of poverty?
The Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Andrea Elliot Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City follows one homeless family in New York City during the 2010s. The book describes experiences of Dasani and her family as they navigate school, shelters, and the social service systems which are meant to be the safety net...
Did we undercount Medicaid numbers? Four examples of data limitation.
The Ohio Legislative District Fact Sheets are the most comprehensive and reliable collection of data points on conditions facing people in each Ohio Senate and Ohio House district in the state that we are able to produce. Still, every statistic carries some level of uncertainty and these Fact Sheets are no exception. It is important...
Community Solutions’ 2022 audience survey results are in!
The social services safety net and basic needs like food and housing is the most important health, social, or economic issue confronting the state of Ohio, according to the latest Community Solutions audience survey. Economic development, job training, and employment fell to the lowest level since we started asking the question a decade ago, landing...
Research team celebrates promotions of Emily Muttillo and Alex Dorman
Emily Muttillo has been named Senior Research Fellow at The Center for Community Solutions. She will continue in her role as Director of Research and Williamson Family Fellow for Applied Research. She directs much of Community Solutions’ consulting work and leads the high-performing team focused on data analysis and demographic and socioeconomic research. During her...
We cannot achieve racial equity until we are ready to ask people to identify their race
Ohio is becoming more racially diverse. The demographic shift will naturally continue because the younger generation is more likely than previous generations to report being something other than “Non-Hispanic White Alone.” That’s the way the U.S. Census Bureau describes people who are white and nothing else. As we’ve written about in the past, the Census...
Some surprising stats for Hispanic Heritage Month
In 2021, Ohio’s Hispanic and Latinx population reached over a half-million people, joining 21 other states. The number of people of Hispanic heritage has risen steadily over the last decade, growing more than 40 percent since 2010. People of Hispanic Heritage live in every corner of Ohio. According to the latest data available from the...