Texas ranks 49th on social justice: poverty, racial disparity and immigrant exclusion

Study: Loyola University New Orleans Jesuit Social Research Institute Issues Inaugural JustSouth Index 2016

(New Orleans, La. – March 18, 2016) A new report issued today by Loyola University New Orleans' Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI) reveals that Texas falls 49th in the U.S. on the JustSouth Index, an innovative new project that evaluates levels of social justice in the 50 states and Washington, D.C. The JustSouth Index measures and compares states' performance on nine quantitative indicators that fall under the dimensions of poverty, racial disparity and immigrant exclusion ― three of the most challenging issues facing the Gulf South today.

According to the report, the other four Gulf South states also ranked especially low, with Louisiana falling lowest at 51st position, Mississippi at 50th, Texas at 49th, Alabama at 48th and Florida slightly higher, in 41st position. 

JSRI officially released the inaugural JustSouth Index report and interactive website today during a press conference, held at 11:30 a.m., Thursday, March 17, 2016 at Loyola. The report and an online media packet can be found here. An interactive map showing results for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. can be found here.

The JustSouth Index, made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, sets out to establish a measure of social justice and to provide policymakers, employers and residents a better understanding of how residents of states in the Gulf South are faring with regard to the basic rights and needs of the human person.

"We have chosen indicators which are reported annually, measurable, clear, reliable, common across all jurisdictions, and actionable," said Fr. Fred Kammer, S.J., J.D., executive director of Loyola's Jesuit Social Research Institute. "I emphasize 'actionable' because, in releasing this first JustSouth Index and in our planning for annual updates, our purposes are to educate the people of this region and to point out how we together can make the kind of changes that promote far greater social justice, equity, and inclusion for all of us who live here."

The Just South Index 2016 examines nine social indicators that cut across the three key measures that address fundamental concerns of human development: health, education and income. The holistic report is not simply an economic report―it also provides a roadmap for changing the social environment.

Key findings in Texas include:

• On nine quantitative indicators related to social justice, Texas ranked 49th compared to all other states and Washington D.C.  The other Gulf South states ranked similarly low, with Louisiana at 51st, Mississippi at 50th, Alabama at 48th, and Florida at 41st.
• The average income of households in the lowest income quartile in Texas was just $14,776 per year in 2014. This is compared to the national average of $15,281 and the highest ranking state of New Hampshire, where households in the lowest income quartile earn $20,956 per year.
• Nearly nine in ten Texas households that are in the lowest income quartile and are renting their home have a high housing cost burden, meaning that they spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent.
• Texas has a significant gap in annual earnings between white and minority workers of similar age, level of education, and occupation. Minority workers earn 14 percent less than their white counterparts when age, education, and job type are accounted for. This compares to a national average of an 8.8 percent gap.
• One in five of immigrant youth in Texas ages 18-25 are considered "disconnected". This means that these youth are not attending school and do not have regular employment, which often is the result of inadequate accommodations in public high schools for English language learners and lack of job training or GED services for immigrant youth who have left the public education system.
• States that have raised the minimum wage, implemented a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), expanded Medicaid eligibility, and invested in housing assistance outperformed states that have not.

Texas has not implemented any of these policies, and it is imperative that state lawmakers take action to address economic and social injustices in the state.

Recommendations for improving social justice and equity in Texas include:

• raising the minimum wage;
• strengthening investments in child care assistance and creating a state Earned Income Tax Credit;
• creating state and local incentives for the development of affordable housing and investing state funds in low-income housing assistance;
• improving access to English as a Second Language (ESL) and adult education classes;
• revisiting policies that improved integration of schools in the 1970s and 1980s;
• increasing resources to schools that serve primarily minority and immigrant students, and
• combating employment discrimination and workers' rights violations through enhanced enforcement efforts by federal, state, and nonprofit entities.

Jeanie Donovan, JSRI economic policy specialist and principal investigator on the social indicators project, led a team of research fellows and student researchers in researching and compiling the JustSouth Index. In the report, she states that state and local governments, as well as nonprofits and employers, have the ability to improve social justice for individuals and families in Texas.

"Although this inaugural release of the JustSouth Index paints a grim picture of the current state of social justice in Texas and the Gulf South, we are not without hope. Each individual indicator is connected to concrete policy and program recommendations," Donovan said. "While the Gulf South states currently rank low in the Index, it is well within the power―and the duty―of leaders and citizens in those states to change the current reality for the common good of all of us."

Loyola University New Orleans is a Catholic, Jesuit university located in the heart of the picturesque Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans. For more than 100 years, Loyola has helped shape the lives of its students, as well as the history of the city and the world, through educating men and women in the Jesuit traditions of academic excellence and service to others. Loyola's more than 40,000 graduates serve as catalysts for change in their communities as they exemplify the comprehensive, values-laden education received at Loyola.

The Gayly - 3/18/2016 @ 10:44 a.m. CST