Scorecard for Shared Prosperity: Measuring change to drive collective action
OUR PATH FORWARD
Long before the COVID-19 crisis hit, disparities have been widening in metro regions across the United States. In the greater Seattle region, disparities around race, gender and geography not only harm some people and communities more than others—particularly Black and Indigenous people —they inhibit the well being of the entire region. Shared prosperity—the idea that we all do better when we all do better—is central to the way Civic Commons addresses these threats and inequities to create a fair system in which everyone has access to the opportunity and resources they need to thrive. With this framework in mind, we convened a panel for a webcast exploring shared prosperity, what it means, and the possibilities it presents for making equitable change in our community. Learn more about how inclusivity benefits everyone and Our Path Forward here.
DIMENSIONS OF PROSPERITY
How to read the data
- Good news! Our region is headed in the right direction.
- Watch out! This trend means something is wrong.
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- Arrows show you whether a trend is increasing or decreasing.
We measure Greater Seattle’s shared prosperity by tracking the total well-being of its residents. Prosperity is truly shared when everyone’s basic needs are met and everyone has access to economic opportunity. Collectively these measurements are meant to help guide local decisions and drive greater equity.
Individuals
Individuals thrive when their health outcomes improve and when occurrence of chronic disease and exposure to violence decreases over time.
See more data on individuals >Change in adults with health concerns
White
People of color
Households
Household thrive when families can build wealth over time with long term assets like personal savings and home ownership, and through entrepreneurship.
See more data on households >Change in median household income
White
Black
Communities
Communities thrive when residents are stable, food secure and not forced to move due to affordability, development, or access. Environmental sustainability also plays a critical role.
See more data on communities >Change in cost-burdened households
White
Black
Economy
Our economy thrives when the region’s businesses expand, hiring is robust, educational attainments rise and traffic delays don’t obstruct the movement of people.
See more data on economy >Change in GDP
Democracy
Our democracy thrives when people participate in community processes and engage with elected representatives.
See more data on democracy >Change in voter participation rate
White
People of color
Individuals
People tend to thrive when their primary health needs are met. Our key indicator here is the percentage of adults with health concerns. However, to gauge the overall well-being of individuals, we also track incarceration rates, group participation rates, mental health indicators and air quality.
What are we seeing?
Overall increasing individual concerns for the four-county region include continued decline group participation rates and increase in days of unhealthy air quality, incarceration rates, and increase in mental health concerns.
Reduction in physical health concerns across all categories
Increasing or constant racial disparities include the disproportionate imprisonment of Black and American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people with the incarceration rates of Black and AI/AN people being 5.6 and 3.4 times higher than white people in King County.
A highlight is the reduction of Hispanic adults reporting poor physical health from 22.8% in 2017 to 18.5% in 2019 and down to 12.7% in 2020 as well as a reduction in those reporting poor mental health from 13.2% in 2019 to 12.6% in 2020.
Why is this metric important?
Individual perspective on health status provides insight into the general feeling of well-being and security felt by the region's residents. .
Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Why is this metric important?
Participation fosters feelings of belonging and connection, leading to better overall mental and physical health.
Source: National Conference on Citizenship - Data directly provided by NCoC
Why is this metric important?
High rates of incarceration have negative effects on family stability, toxic stress levels, and have been shown to be connected with poor health outcomes for individuals. .
Source: King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap Counties
Why is this metric important?
Poor physical health, including chronic illnesses, creates barriers for individual participation in the economy, and drives costs through the health care system.
Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Why is this metric important?
Mental health is a significant contributor to overall health, and can result in isolation and loss of a sense of belonging. It is also often a precursor to people experiencing homelessness.
Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Why is this metric important?
Unhealthy air quality restricts activity for all residents, and acutely impacts sensitive and unhealthy group's quality of life.
Source: EPA
HOUSEHOLDS
A household is a group of people who are related and live together. To see how well households are doing, we look at median household income. We also track employment, on-time graduation rates, access to public transportation, and homeownership to give us a picture of how families are doing.
What are we seeing?
The data from 2020 will show the broad impact of the global pandemic at a household level:
Median household income declined as a whole, but data has not been released yet
Employed declined by 8.2%
On time graduation, however, increased across all categories
Public transport accessibility in the region has increased
Data on homeownership rates has not yet been released as of the publication of this scorecard.
Median household income data only available for individual counties.
Why is this metric important?
Growing employment indicates robust commerce and provides new job and growth opportunities for the region's residents.
Source: BLS
Why is this metric important?
A highly functioning education system results in a resident base that is engaged, employable, and productive.
Source: Office of the Superintendant of Public Instruction
Why is this metric important?
Well designed transit networks, coupled with easy access connect residents with job centers, create economic opportunities for people while reducing traffic congestion.
Source: PSRC
Why is this metric important?
Homeownership is a primary method of building household wealth over time and provides greater financial security and flexibility.
Source: ACS
Communities
Communities do best when their members can easily afford the basics of life—food and shelter. To track this, we watch the number of households that pay more than 30% of their monthly wages for housing. We also track the percentage of jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage, average rental prices, and carbon emissions.
What are we seeing?
The data from 2020 will show the broad impact of the global pandemic at a community level. However, many of the indicators in this scorecard are provided by the US Census American Community Survey 1-year estimates, which will not be published because survey responses during 2020 did not meet the Census’ standards for data quality. In addition, many other data points are due to be released in December of 2021 or January of 2022 to complete this section.
Why is this metric important?
Housing costs in excess of 30% of income limit financial security, and can prevent upward mobility by restricting funds available for personal growth and continued education.
Source: ACS
Family sustaining wages promote economic security and mobility for households, and prevent individuals from needing to have multiple jobs.
Sources: ACS, MIT
Experiencing hunger can be a barrier to educational success, participation in the economy, and can lead to poor health including malnutrition.
Source: Feeding America
Economy
Many factors contribute to a thriving economy. The gross domestic product, or GDP, is a measure of the total value of the goods and services produced in the area. Other metrics add to the story too. We also track household employment, the vitality of new business, the region’s educational attainment, and the rate of people moving to King County, among other numbers.
What are we seeing?
GDP growth drivers have taken a recent downturn with decreasing new private sector establishments, postsecondary completion rate, and # of people moving to King County.
However, facilitating economic growth is a decreasing change in weekday traffic delay.
Economic vitality remains challenging for small businesses with decreasing change in small business employment.
Why is this metric important?
Expansion of economic activity benefits our region's businesses and creates opportunities for all residents to participate in that growth.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis
Why is this metric important?
A vibrant and diverse small business sector creates opportunities for new ventures to grow into medium and large businesses, and insulates the region from sector-specific shocks.
Source: Paychex
Why is this metric important?
Successful new businesses promote opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation and are a particularly good vehicle for household wealth accumulation.
Source: Paychex
Source: BLS
Why is this metric important?
Efficient flow of capital into small businesses promotes a vibrant and diverse commercial sector and provides greater opportunity for entrepreneurship and innovation.
Source: FFIEC
Why is this metric important?
Residents with postsecondary degrees have better job prospects and higher earning potential than those without.
Source: ACS
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Why is this metric important?
Migration into our region provides a deeper pool of talent for businesses to employ, and indicates a region that is attractive to outsiders.
Source: ACS
*Interpret AI/AN and NHPI percentages with caution since there are small sample sizes. These were included to ensure representation.
Why is this metric important?
Freeway congestion restricts the efficient flow of physical goods, increases commute times, and causes pollution.
Source: WSDOT
Democracy
A strong democracy relies on the activity of many individuals. Our key metric here is voter participation rates. We also look at neighborhood participation rates and the rate at which people contact a local official.
What are we seeing?
Voter participation rates were primarily driven by decreases in white voting rates, as POC rates increased by 3.0%, and disproportionality of participation by these groups drives overall participation rate down
Overall neighbor participation rate and people contacting public officials increased, signaling greater civic engagement and sense of belonging
These increases were most significant among POC, with neighbor participation rate increasing +21% (compared to +16% for whites) and contacting officials increasing +7% (compared to +2% for whites)
Why is this metric important?
Broader participation in elections results in more representative government, policies that reflect the will of the region's residents, and promotes greater civic engagement.
Why is this metric important?
Connection with neighbors increases an individual's sense of belonging and builds civic engagement. Communities that are more connected are more resilient to change.
Why is this metric important?
Accessing power to share perspectives or try to influence policy are critical elements of well-functioning democratic practices.