President Lyndon Johnson announces war on poverty.JPG

President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, center left, leave the home in Inez, Ky., of Tom Fletcher, a father of eight who told Johnson he'd been out of work for nearly two years, in this April 24, 1964, file photo. The president visited the Appalachian area in Eastern Kentucky to see conditions firsthand and announce his War on Poverty from the Fletcher porch. (AP Photo/FILE)

MONTGOMERY, Alabama --- Alabama ranks as the nation's seventh poorest state based on the percentage of people who live in poverty, according to a report issued today by Alabama Possible, a nonprofit group that works to draw attention to poverty and its causes.



A family of four earning less than $23,850 is considered to be in poverty, according to the report.

Alabama Possible’s 2014 Data Sheet says almost 900,000 people in the state, including about 300,000 children, are living in poverty.

The number of people in poverty is almost one-fifth of the state’s population, estimated at 4.8 million.

States that have a higher percentage of poor are Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Mexico.

“Understanding the facts about poverty can help communities make decisions about what public and private anti-poverty initiatives are needed to help families in their area break the cycle of poverty,” Kristina Scott, the executive director of Alabama Possible, said in a news release. “We hope that Alabamians will use this data sheet to discuss job creation, consider legislative policy, or lead a class or Sunday school discussion.”

The Data Sheet is based on information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Alabama Department of Public Health Center for Health Statistics, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Alabama Possible was founded in 1993, when it was called the Alabama Poverty Project. It was formed by Auburn University President Wilford Bailey, Auburn History Professor Emeritus Wayne Flynt, social work pioneer Eulene Hawkins and Alabama Baptist Convention President Earl Potts, according to the organization's website.