2014 National Convening Skills Presenations Portland Plan | Page 120

THE PORTLAND PLAN

Median household income by race/ethnicity, 2010, Portland, OR

Source: 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.

How aggressive is this target?
Meeting the 90 percent target of self-sufficient
households will require aggressive new tools to
reduce barriers to upward mobility for the working
poor, such as training for disadvantaged workers,
affordable childcare, and initiatives to reduce racial
and ethnic disparities.
Portland’s Economic Opportunity Initiative, launched
in 2004, refocused local poverty-reduction efforts,
and it has been replicated as a national model. The
program goal is to increase the income and assets of
low-income participants by 25 percent within three

years, primarily through job training and placement.
In 2008–09, the program served about 2,600
participants, and three-year graduates achieved
success with 90 percent of the program’s workforce
goals.
Currently, the standard is calculated at the county
level, but not at the city level. Eighty percent of
Multnomah County’s population lives in the City
of Portland. This information shows that many
households in Multnomah County — more than
double the households than the federal poverty
level captures — struggle to meet their everyday
needs.

Percent of Portlanders who are economically self sufficient (2008)
Income Category
Below Poverty

Above Poverty,
Below Self-Sufficiency

10.3%

13.2%

76.5%

100%

Washington County

6.7%

18.9%

74.3%

100%

Clackamas County

6.1%

18.7%

75.2%

100%

Geography

Multnomah County (Portland)

Above Self-Sufficiency

Total

Source: Gu, Danan and Sheila Martin, et. al. Where the Ends Don't Meet: Measuring poverty and self-sufficiency among Oregon's families.
Institute of Metropolitan Studies, Portland State University. March 2010.

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April 2012 | www.pdxplan.com