JustSouth Index 2018 Just Released! | Jesuit Social Research Institute

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Gulf South states rank below average on measures of social justice for third year in a row; report spotlights three challenging issues facing the Gulf South – poverty, racial disparity and immigrant exclusion. LOUISIANA RANKS LAST.

Date

Wed, 11/20/2019 - 19:00

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Study: Loyola University New Orleans Jesuit Social Research Institute Issues 2018 JustSouth Index</h2>
Gulf South states rank below average on measures of social justice for third year in a row; report spotlights three challenging issues facing the Gulf South – poverty, racial disparity and immigrant exclusion. LOUISIANA RANKS LAST. 
(New Orleans, LA, -- November 21, 2019) The 2018 JustSouth Index report released today by Loyola University New Orleans’ Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI) reveals that states in the Gulf South of the U.S. all fall near the bottom of the Index on measures of social justice. The JustSouth Index measures and compares states’ performance on nine quantitative indicators that fall under three dimensions: poverty, racial disparity and immigrant exclusion.  All 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, were scored. The five Gulf South states ranked as follows:
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Florida #41</li>
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Texas # 46</li>
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Alabama #49</li>
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Mississippi #50</li>
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Louisiana #51</li>
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Hawaii fares best overall, with a No. 1 ranking.
Key Findings for Louisiana:
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The state’s expansion of Medicaid in 2016 led to a dramatic decline in the number of uninsured.  Louisiana went from 45thto 33rd in the state rankings in this particular indicator. Specifically, in our Index we find that the percentage of low income people without health insurance in 2017 was 19.8%.  The previous year it was 26.4%.  This represents the greatest decline in the percentage of uninsured among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.  </li>
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Despite great improvement in the uninsured, Louisiana was, for the third year in a row, at the bottom of the state rankings in overall score.</li>
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Louisiana had the second lowest average income among low income residents (bottom quartile or 25%): $11,016.  The state at the bottom was Mississippi with $10,821.  The state at the top was Maryland with $22,234.  The national average was $16,293.</li>
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Louisiana had the second largest white-minority wage gap in the country, 18.4%.</li>
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Louisiana had the second largest gap in health insurance coverage between native and foreign-born residents, 26.6%.  The national average was 13.9%.</li>
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Louisiana had the sixth highest percentage of segregated schools in the U.S., 21.8%.</li>
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“The JustSouth Index serves as a measure of social justice examining key dimensions that must be addressed to improve lives and enhance human dignity,” said <a href="https://jsri.loyno.edu/bio/fr-fred-kammer-sj-j-d">the Rev. Fred Kammer</a>, S.J., J.D., executive director of Loyola’s Jesuit Social Research Institute. “Our purposes, rooted deeply in the Scriptures and Catholic social justice traditions, 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.” 
Key Recommendations for Louisiana:
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Raise the minimum wage significantly and rescind the 2012 preemption law banning municipal wages and sick leave policies.</li>
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Investigate discriminatory labor practices</li>
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Make available more resources to educate all residents (native or foreign born) about the various benefits available to them via the ACA, including expanded Medicaid.</li>
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Increase state enforcement of school desegregation and address unequal funding allocation to schools.</li>
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“While Louisiana currently ranks low in the Index, it is well within the power and the duty of leaders and citizens in the state to change the current reality,” says JSRI.  “Improving a state’s ranking on the indicators, dimension indices, and the overall JustSouth Index will require that policymakers, advocates, philanthropists, business, labor and community leaders, and citizens take action to work for policy and program changes that will more justly distribute opportunity and resources to all in society. In turn, they will serve the common good and create greater solidarity among the residents of Louisiana.”
The JustSouth Index, made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, establishes a measure of social justice and provides policymakers, businesses, nonprofits, and residents with a better understanding of how the people of the Gulf South are faring with regard to basic human rights and needs. 
<a href="https://jsri.loyno.edu/sites/loyno.edu.jsri/files/JSRI_JustSouth%20Index%202018.pdf">The full report is linked here.</a>
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<a href="https://jsri.loyno.edu/indicators-map">Interactive Map 2018</a></h4>