The state moved from eighth place in 2022 and is now behind Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The data shows poverty is concentrated in the state’s children, with 1 in 5 living at or below the federal level.
Oklahoma Policy Institute Communications Director Dave Hamby said pandemic-related funding dedicated to children helped lower the rate of child poverty. However, once they expired, the rate went back up.
“When we focus on policy solutions that address specific poverty needs, we can improve the well-being of folks,” Hamby said. “But when we let those expire or don’t make those decisions, poverty is going to persist in our community.”
The census data showed not all Oklahomans struggle equally with poverty. The rates among Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans in the state have increased, showing more than 1 in 6 Oklahomans of two or more races lived in poverty.
In 2022, 25.3% of Black Oklahomans experienced poverty. This year, the rate went up to 28.1%. The same happened to Latino Oklahomans, going up from 21.3% to 21.5%. The rate of white Oklahomans living in poverty increased to 13.4%, up from 12.8% in 2022.
Oklahoma Policy Institute compared the poverty rates with racial demographics and reported a significant concentration of poverty in racial minority communities, which make up only between 6% and 13% of the state’s population. Hamby said the numbers tie back to historical incidences that continue to create systematic harm. He said the only way to address that is through efficient policy solutions.
One way Hamby advocated is to increase the minimum wage, according to the Oklahoma Policy Institute. However, the governor's decision to push a statewide vote on minimum wage until 2026 slows down efforts to increase income for low-wage workers.
Hamby said state lawmakers can work on different solutions such as investing in child care, paid family leave and making the tax system fairer.
“I would like to make sure that folks recognize this census data shows us a bad picture of how Oklahomans are doing,” Hamby said. “There are two things that we can do when faced with this bad information. One is to look at it and go, ‘Yeah, that's bad.’ But the second is, ‘Wow, that's bad. What can we do to turn this around?’”
