Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 19
Series: Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands
From: WCAI / WNAN
Length: 00:05:06
Also in the Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands series
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 11
(00:04:59)
From: WCAI / WNAN
Meals on Wheels on the Vineyard: Much of the world knows Martha's Vineyard as a rich person's playground, but many locals are struggling to find adequate food and shelter.
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 10
(00:04:04)
From: WCAI / WNAN
Stressed Out in Eastham: According to a survey conducted by Barnstable County last year, 80% of the most needy households on the Cape wrestle with stress and anxiety.
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 9
(00:05:02)
From: WCAI / WNAN
The Winter Rental Shuffle in Sandwich: With off-season rental-housing prices skyrocketing, where are the working poor expected to look for shelter?
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 8
(00:04:51)
From: WCAI / WNAN
Homeless in Hyannis Part 2: Shelters housed more than 500 homeless people last year. But untold others live on friends' couches, in motel rooms, and in tents in the woods.
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 7
(00:05:04)
From: WCAI / WNAN
Homeless in Hyannis Part 1: Shelters housed more than 500 homeless people last year. But untold others live on friends' couches, in motel rooms, and in tents in the woods
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 6
(00:04:34)
From: WCAI / WNAN
Free and reduced lunch program statistics in Dennis indicate that there may be no accurate way to measure poverty.
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 12
(00:05:08)
From: WCAI / WNAN
Elderly Poor in Harwich: The ever-rising costs of living means that for a growing number of seniors, retirement has not been the life of leisure they may have expected.
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 13
(00:05:07)
From: WCAI / WNAN
Wampanoag in Mashpee: Of the 350 Wampanoag living in Mashpee today, 90% live from paycheck to paycheck, undeniably poor.
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 14
(00:04:52)
From: WCAI / WNAN
Youth Flight in Falmouth: If the next generation of teachers, nurses, and firefighters can't make the Cape their home, then who will serve and take care of the people who can?
Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 15
(00:04:58)
From: WCAI / WNAN
Empty Nets in Provincetown: Cape Cod, a land named for its bounty of fish, doesn't have many commercial fishermen left.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
Those who serve Cape Cod's poor are the first to point out that behind the veil of the affluent summer paradise we all recognize, hides a community that continually struggles to make ends meet. This duPont-Columbia Award-winning series examines the unique factors that contribute to persistent and hidden poverty throughout the Cape and Islands region. Each story is set in one of the fifteen towns on Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
Transcript
Cape Codders have never been much for commuting. Like the Berkshires, Mass. region, most of the people who live in Cape Cod year-round, tend to make their living here, too. But things are changing. Bourne is a Cape Cod town where going to work off-Cape means more opportunities to escape a tourist and service-driven economy.
As it is, pretty much any local can find a job on Cape Cod, if it's summertime and they're willing to work for fairly little money. The state counts about 38,000 hospitality and retail jobs here (more than any other types of industry) and both categories are among the lowest paying ways to make a living in the state.
The cost of living is high, and the average wage is low, about $35k a year. That's about $14k lower than the average for the rest of the state. What these statistics say is that for more and more Cape Codders, things just aren't working out. A gro...
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