Cook County’s financial divide is a local example of how policies favor the rich

A volunteer helps a woman pick out groceries at the Nourishing Hope food pantry in Humboldt Park. The pantry says that demand for groceries has doubled over the past year, a reflection of the financial divides that pervade Cook County, a new study says. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

The decades-long stretch of increasing income inequality reportedly has eased, but as Michael Loria reported in Wednesday’s Sun-Times, its disastrous effects are keenly felt in Cook County.

A study published Tuesday by the Financial Health Network found that county residents reported higher rates of financial vulnerability — being able to save and pay bills — than the national average, even though they also reported higher-than-average rates of being financially healthy. Black and Latino residents were three to four times more likely to be financially vulnerable.