1999 Basic Needs Assessment


 

Appendix: Community Survey Results

A survey assessing issues that affect basic needs (child care, adult care, and transportation) was administered to eight sites around the city (Table 1) in July and August of 1999. Most of the surveys were collected from the Urban Central site (Post Road/Palm Square), making up 43% of all surveys collected.

Table 1: Number and percent of completed surveys from specified sites

Area

Center Name

Number of Completed Surveys

Percent of Completed Surveys

Urban Central

Post Road & Palm Square

157

43%

North

Pflugerville

51

14%

Central

Caritas

37

10%

NW Rural

Jonestown & Lago Vista

30

8%

East Rural

Imperial Valley

25

7%

South Rural

Del Valle

26

7%

West Rural

Oak Hill

22

6%

East Austin

Greater Mt Zion

15

4%

Total
 

363

100%

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

Area

Black

Hispanic

White

Other
Urban Central (Post Road & Palm Square)

43%

34%
19% 4%
North (Pflugerville)

26%

27%
29% 9%
Central (Caritas)

40%

26%
23% 11%
NW Rural (Jonestown & Lago Vista)

4%

4%
89% 4%
East Rural & Imperial Valley

75%

13%
8% 4%
South Rural (Del Valle)

26%

48%
22% 4%
West Rural (Oak Hill)

18%

46%
32% 5%
East Austin (Greater Mt Zion)

100%
     
Aggregate Analysis

40%

29%
26% 5%

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:

  • There was not a bus route near participants house (21%)
  • Bus takes too long (20%)
  • Riding the bus was too much of a hassle (19%)
  • Too many transfers (11%)

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 couldnt cross the street safely (12%)
  • Insufficient places to cross the street (11%)
  • Too much noise due to the traffic (8%)

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