The holiday season is a time when families gather and look ahead. Supporting your local charities during the holiday season and beyond matters.
Metro Atlanta’s promise of opportunity is not shared by all. Many families feel this gap every day, as living costs rise and wages fail to keep pace.
A recent report from Harvard University ranked the Atlanta metro area last among major U.S. regions for upward mobility, meaning children born into poverty here rarely move into higher income brackets.
More research has found that the bottom 20% of Atlanta households average about $11,000 a year, while the top 20% average more than $324,000. For every $1 of wealth held by the average Black family in Atlanta, the average white family has $46, according to the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.
A comfortable lifestyle in our city now requires an annual income of well over $100,000. Families in the lowest income bracket spend about a third of their income on child care alone.