The SocioEconomic Impact of Job Loss in Robeson County,

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• The Socio-Economic Impact of Job Loss in Robeson
  County,
• North Carolina
• Preliminary Findings
• Leslie Hossfeld, PhD.
• Department of Sociology, UNC-Pembroke

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Robeson County, NC Population 123,339
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Ten-Year Change in Robeson County Manufacturing
1993-2003

• In 1993 manufacturing accounted for 31 of all
  jobs in the county
• Ten years later, manufacturing accounts for only
  18 of jobs in the county.
• Nearly 9000 jobs lost since 1993
• Peak years of plant closings 1998-2003

Source NC Employment Security Commission
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• Manufacturing work declined significantly from
  17,430 in 1993 to 6,832 in 2003.

Number of Manufacturing Employees and
Manufacturing Payroll - Robeson County
1993-2003Source County Business Patterns
1994-2003
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Economic Impact of Manufacturing Job Loss

• Ripple Effect of Job Loss
• Regional Economic Impact (region defined as
  adjacent commuting counties)
• Total Loss as of 2004
• 946,818,282

• Loss of 8,708 manufacturing jobs in Robeson
  County resulted in
• Total reduction in regional employment of 19,921
  jobs from 1993-2004
• By 2004, regional household income had been
  reduced by 808 million
• By 2004 regional governments were collecting 39
  million less in indirect business taxes

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What happens when work disappears?

• Job loss affects not only the immediate worker
  who loses their job, but other workers in the
  community.

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Ripple effect on other industries due to
manufacturing job loss
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Annual Unemployment Rates for North Carolina and
Robeson County Source North Carolina
Unemployment Security Commission 1994-2003
Things are tough. Jobs are hard to come by. I
dont know how people make it."
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Unemployment InsurancePayments Robeson
CountySource US Bureau of Economic Analysis
1993-2001

• Unemployment Insurance payments increased from
  8.4 million in 1994 to 20.8 million in 2001
• From 1998 to 2001 Unemployment Insurance payments
  more than doubled
• By June 2003 NC had a negative UIF balance

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Income
Poverty means you cant do basic goals like
taking care of your family and yourself
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• State Mean Household Income 51,225

• 37 of Robeson County households in 2000 had
  incomes below 20,000 a year
• Over half (52) earned incomes below 30,000
• 24 of households live in poverty
• Source US Census 2000

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• Personal bankruptcies in
• Eastern NC nearly tripled
• from 1994 to 2002

Personal Bankruptcies Source US Eastern North
Carolina District Court 1994-2002
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Bankruptcies Filed in Robeson County 1999-2002 Sou
rce US Eastern North Carolina District Court
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Education and Work

• Many workers in Robeson County left school early
  to work in local manufacturing
• 31 of adults 25 and older in Robeson County do
  not have a high school diploma.
• Displaced workers face the dilemma of having
  little educational attainment when work today is
  increasingly knowledge-based

Robeson County Educational Attainment Source US
Census 2000
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Older workers are disadvantaged

• Rural displaced workers are generally older
  workers with less education
• Previous research on displaced workers indicates
  that older workers endure greater hardships with
  longer periods of unemployment than younger
  workers

Source US Census 2000
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Other Indicators of Distress

• Infant mortality remains high in Robeson County
  increasing from 12 in 1990 to 14 in 2000
• 31 of children under 18 live in poverty
• Annual Income-Maintenance payments increased by
  25 million from 1994-2001

Source US Bureau Economic Analysis. This data
represents payments that include SSI, AFDC, food
stamps payments, foster home care, earned income
tax credit, energy assistance
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• Contact Information
• Leslie Hossfeld, Ph.D.
• Department of Sociology
• BA 223
• University of North Carolina at Pembroke
• hossfeld_at_uncp.edu

• Center for Community Action
• Mac Legerton
• PO Box 723
• Lumberton, NC 28359
• cca_at_carolina.net