2011 Census figures to be released this fall will show that progress combating poverty has taken a giant leap backwards.

Poverty is not a choice.

WASHINGTON — Arizona earned a D in a national report Wednesday that graded states on their families’ financial security in five broad categories.

WASHINGTON — Arizona had the second-highest income inequality in the nation between 2008 and 2010, trailing only New Mexico for the gap between its richest and poorest residents, a new report says.

New statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday shed light on the internal numbers that contributed to an Arizona poverty rate that is the second-highest in the nation.

Some services to the poor, elderly and disabled will be threatened if proposed cuts to federal Community Service Block Grants come to fruition, local charity and non-profit organization leaders fear.

Some services to the poor, elderly and disabled will be threatened if proposed cuts to federal Community Service Block Grants come to fruition, local charity and non-profit organization leaders fear.

Some services to the poor, elderly and disabled will be threatened if proposed cuts to federal Community Service Block Grants come to fruition, local charity and non-profit organization leaders fear.

It’s getting cold in Arizona, a fact that raises thermostats here and eyebrows across the country. Most Americans believe Arizona is always sunny and warm in the winter and sunny and unbearable in the summer.

Low-income SRP customers upset over a proposed 4.8 percent rate hike plan to share their stories Monday during the public meeting of the utility company’s board.

The 2011 Census figures to be released this fall will show that progress combating poverty has taken a giant leap backwards.

Even in a good year, only 6 percent of eligible low-income households, or about 30,000 of the nearly 500,000 who are eligible, receive emergency energy assistance during Arizona’s excessive summer heat to help with utility bills.

If you were to touch a dark roof surface on a manufactured home during the summer in Phoenix, you might find that it is thirty degrees warmer than the roof of a mobile home that is painted white. By applying a white reflective roofing coating, homeowners can reduce the cost and energy needed to operate their air conditioning unit. A white roof coating is just one example of the cost-effective improvements that are made through the Weatherization Assistance Program.

Poverty is not a choice. Do you think anyone woke up this morning and decided today's a good day to be poor? And yet, every day, poverty becomes reality for far too many American families through no fault of their own. Why?

Poverty is not a choice. Do you think anyone woke up this morning and decided today's a good day to be poor? And yet, every day, poverty becomes reality for far too many American families through no fault of their own. Why?

WASHINGTON – Arizona is the only state that expects to cover fewer people under its Medicaid program in 2012 than it did in 2011, according to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation.