Demographics
Analyses were run on data for all the sites combined and for each site separately.
The aggregate analysis revealed that 75% of the survey respondents were female
and 25% were male. There was no significant difference in sex distribution
among the individual eight sites. The racial/ethnic distribution of the completed
surveys were 40% black, 29% Hispanic, 26% white, and 5% other (Table 2).
The individual site race distribution for several of the sites differed greatly
from the aggregate analysis. Both the South Rural (Del Valle) and West Rural
(Oak Hill) sites had the greatest proportion of their surveys completed by
Hispanics, 48% and 46%, respectively. The East Austin (Greater Mt Zion) and
East Rural/Imperial Valley sites had a greater proportion of blacks, with
100% and 75% respectively, completing their surveys. The Northwest Rural site
had a greater proportion of whites, 89%, completing their surveys. Pflugerville
had the highest percentage of people in the other category, 9%, when compared
to the aggregate analysis.
Table 2: Racial/ethnic distribution of completed surveys
Survey participants were asked to give their current employment status. Thirty-eight
percent of participants reported that they were unemployed. In comparison,
26% reported being employed full time, 12% reported being employed part-time,
8% reported being homemakers, 13% reported being retired, and 4% reported
that they were students.
The majority of the participants reported a very low annual income; 40% reported
earning $1,000 or less and 27% reported earning between $2-12,000 annually.
Of the remaining thirty-two percent, 23% reported earning between $12-26,000
and 9% reported earning at least $26,000 annually.
Child Care
Of the 363 survey respondents, seventy-five survey respondents (23%) reported
having a need for child care. Most respondents reported needing care for two
children. When the data for all sites was examined, the most common type of
child care utilized by respondents was friends or relatives (40%) (Figure
A).
.
The type of care used by survey participants varied greatly from the different
sites
South Rural participants reported using their friend and kin networks 80%
of the time for child care, and the remaining 20% was equally distributed
among regulated facilities (10%) and not having any care available (10%).
Like South Rural, the participants from the East Rural area used their friend
and kin networks more (67%). Their use of regulated facilities was also slightly
higher when compared to the aggregate analysis, with 33% reported usage. Pflugerville
had a similar proportion of participants using friend and kin networks, but
they had a higher proportion of participants reporting usage of regulated
(31%) and no care used (31%) when compared to the aggregate analysis. A high
proportion of the participants from the Urban Central area reported not having
any type of care (40%), and a lower proportion reported using friend or kin
networks (25%). The West Rural area also reported a high proportion of its
participants not having any type of child care (67%), with the remaining 33%
reporting using friend or relatives.
The most frequent response reported for monthly cost for child care was less
than $50, 48% of all respondents combined. Thirty percent of survey respondents
reported paying over $100, 9% reported paying over $250, and 14% reported
paying anywhere from $350 to $550.
Adult Care
Only 4% (fourteen people) reported having a need for adult care for their
parents/relatives. As such, any results reported here are at best speculative.
Further investigation with greater sample size is warranted. Of those that
reported that they had a need for adult care, five (31%) stated that they
do not currently have care and three (19%) reported that their relatives are
in a licensed care facility. When queried about the monthly cost that they
incur as a result of their relatives’ care, one participant responded
that the cost was over $100 a month and four reported paying less than $50
a month. Again, these results need further survey work with a greater sample
size to produce more meaningful data.
Transportation
Transportation is one of the barriers that prohibit clients from accessing
social services. To determine the usage and problems associated with the public
transportation system four questions were included in the survey. Almost half
(49%) of all survey respondents reported never using the public bus system.
Data are shown in the graph at right.
In order to better address and serve the transportation needs of residents
in the community, it is necessary to understand the current problems. As seen
in the graph at right, the four most common responses for not using
the bus were:
When participants were questioned about what would make it easier for them
to use the bus, 28% stated that a bus route in their neighborhood would make
it easier. This was the most frequent response and it corresponds with the
reason why participants do not ride the bus (that there are not any buses
near their homes). A quarter of the participants reported that more direct
routes would make the bus easier for them to ride. Again, this corresponds
with the same rationale why participants do not ride the bus, that they require
too many transfers and it is too much of a hassle. Nine percent of the participants
stated cost as a factor for not using the bus and 28% stated they did not
ever plan on using the bus (see the graph above).
In addition to bus usage, participants were asked about the traffic problems
within their area. Thirty-seven percent of participants responded that there
were no traffic problems in their area. The most common traffic problem cited
was speeding, with 26% of the people reporting it. The remaining three responses
can be seen in the graph to the right.
- Children couldn’t cross the street safely (12%)
- Insufficient places to cross the street (11%)
- Too much noise due to the traffic (8%)
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