Black income levels plummet 11% in Ky.

African Americans living in Kentucky saw their average yearly incomes drop by more than 11 percent in one year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released this week.

The poverty rate also rose for black Kentuckians at a rate four times more than the rest of the state from 2013 to 2014.

“Lower incomes make it harder to save and build wealth," said Sadiqa Reynolds, incoming president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League. "This leads to generations of poverty and often to vicious life struggles.”

The census data show the state’s overall median household income fell by 2 percent from 2013 to 2014, from $44,097 in to $42,958.  Poverty in the eastern Kentucky region also went up significantly.

How Louisville ranks on black poverty areas

For black residents, household income fell from $30,183 annually to $26,735.

During that same time period the poverty rate went up for African Americans in Kentucky from 28.8 percent in 2013 to 32.4 percent.

Reynolds said the trend is troubling and underscores an urgency to create policies that will end cycles of poverty.

"I won't speak for elected officials and their commitment to eliminating income disparities. However, the consequences are serious," she said. "Education is key and things like home ownership matter, but we must acknowledge that those in poverty didn't get into this hole alone and are not solely responsible for digging out. Societal ills require societal solutions."

Reynolds added this information will be useful when she takes the reins of the Urban League next month to push political and community leaders to address policy changes that assist in workforce readiness and in connecting candidates to careers with benefits and retirement plans.

While the state poverty rate was statistically unchanged overall during that one year time frame, Census data shows it did rise in eastern Kentucky. In Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District, which covers most of the Appalachian region, poverty saw a three percent rate hike to about 29 percent in 2014.

Child poverty rates in that region went up to 39.8 percent.

Louisville 10th worst for high black poverty areas

Jason Bailey, executive director of the liberal-leaning Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, which compiled the information, said the data should show state policymakers that they “need much more serious efforts to create jobs for those being left behind,” especially African Americans and eastern Kentucky residents.

“Priorities should include fair tax reform that allows greater investment in the people and regions that need support and a boost in wages through an increase in Kentucky’s outdated minimum wage,” he said.

Bailey said the state remains behind compared to where it was before the national economic recession. In 2007, for instance, Kentucky poverty's rate was below 17.3 percent and median income was higher at an inflation-adjusted $45,973.

Census data shows the state's overall poverty rate sat at 19.1 percent in 2014.

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at (502) 582-4475 or pbailey@courier-journal.com.