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Study: Pa. Families Above Poverty Level, But Still Struggling
Is Government Subsidizing The Way To Go?
By JENNY DeHUFF, The Bulletin
One-fifth of the 3.4 million households in Pennsylvania lack adequate income to meet the basic needs of their families, according to a new study revealed this week.
The first-ever report of its kind, issued by Pathways PA, an advocacy service for women, children and families, measured the number of families in economic distress based on a “self-sufficiency standard.”
Using this model, Pathways PA, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, calculated the wages of 70 different family configurations and their abilities to pay for basic necessities such as child care, nutritious food, adequate housing and health care in all of the state’s 67 counties.
But critics say the study panders to the lazy and offers recommendations that could place an added burden on the taxpayer.
Nate Benefield, director of policy research for the Commonwealth Foundation, said the report advocates creating a larger welfare state.
“The irony of this study is that its starting premise is the ‘self-sufficiency standard, defined as the ‘income a family … needs to adequately meet its basic needs — without public or private assistance. Yet, their recommendations are to provide more public assistance, not looking to ways to make families more self-sufficient.
“Their study calls for an additional tax credit, taxpayer-funded child care and higher minimum wage laws. These are not solutions to a lack of self-sufficiency. What the families need is more and better jobs.”
Carol Goertzel, president and CEO of Pathways PA, said fundamental changes are necessary to create better access to training and education.
“This study really breaks down the myths of what people are earning under the self-sufficiency standard, and is more related to people having full-time jobs,” she said.
The report, titled, “Overlooked and Undercounted: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Pennsylvania,” portrays the one in 10 households that are considered poor by the federal poverty level. The “self-sufficiency standard,” is different from the 2009 federal poverty level, which is $14,570 for a single parent and preschooler and $22,050 for a family of four.
In Philadelphia, a family of four earns $53,610, or 253 percent of the federal poverty level.
Diana Pearce, director of the Center for Women’s Welfare at the University of Washington School of Social Work, said those families living above the poverty level, but below the self-sufficiency standard, need help with the costs of housing, food, child care, health care and other miscellaneous expenses.
“To really see how much it costs to make ends meet, as opposed to the federal poverty level, which was based only on the cost of food, is really an opportunity for the state to see what it is and begin looking at new policies that address these issues,” said Ms. Pearce.
She suggested tax credits for needy families and more subsidized child care.
“These costs are some of the main reasons parents aren’t earning self-sufficient wages,” she said.
“The report neglects the cost of current welfare programs, including redistribution of tax credits and the higher taxes to pay for them, as well as the costs of minimum wage laws,” said Mr. Benefield.
“These costs only hurt workers with fewer jobs, fewer hours and reduced benefits, especially those [who are] the least skilled members of the workforce.”
In terms of race and ethnicity, 67 percent of households in Pennsylvania with inadequate income are white. Nine percent are Latino, 19 percent are black and 3 percent are Asian.
The release of the report marks the first time demographic data relating to the self-sufficiency standard has been collected in the state. Thus far, 37 states have conducted similar studies.
Jenny DeHuff can be reached at jdehuff@thebulletin.us
The first-ever report of its kind, issued by Pathways PA, an advocacy service for women, children and families, measured the number of families in economic distress based on a “self-sufficiency standard.”
Using this model, Pathways PA, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, calculated the wages of 70 different family configurations and their abilities to pay for basic necessities such as child care, nutritious food, adequate housing and health care in all of the state’s 67 counties.
But critics say the study panders to the lazy and offers recommendations that could place an added burden on the taxpayer.
Nate Benefield, director of policy research for the Commonwealth Foundation, said the report advocates creating a larger welfare state.
“The irony of this study is that its starting premise is the ‘self-sufficiency standard, defined as the ‘income a family … needs to adequately meet its basic needs — without public or private assistance. Yet, their recommendations are to provide more public assistance, not looking to ways to make families more self-sufficient.
“Their study calls for an additional tax credit, taxpayer-funded child care and higher minimum wage laws. These are not solutions to a lack of self-sufficiency. What the families need is more and better jobs.”
Carol Goertzel, president and CEO of Pathways PA, said fundamental changes are necessary to create better access to training and education.
“This study really breaks down the myths of what people are earning under the self-sufficiency standard, and is more related to people having full-time jobs,” she said.
The report, titled, “Overlooked and Undercounted: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Pennsylvania,” portrays the one in 10 households that are considered poor by the federal poverty level. The “self-sufficiency standard,” is different from the 2009 federal poverty level, which is $14,570 for a single parent and preschooler and $22,050 for a family of four.
In Philadelphia, a family of four earns $53,610, or 253 percent of the federal poverty level.
Diana Pearce, director of the Center for Women’s Welfare at the University of Washington School of Social Work, said those families living above the poverty level, but below the self-sufficiency standard, need help with the costs of housing, food, child care, health care and other miscellaneous expenses.
“To really see how much it costs to make ends meet, as opposed to the federal poverty level, which was based only on the cost of food, is really an opportunity for the state to see what it is and begin looking at new policies that address these issues,” said Ms. Pearce.
She suggested tax credits for needy families and more subsidized child care.
“These costs are some of the main reasons parents aren’t earning self-sufficient wages,” she said.
“The report neglects the cost of current welfare programs, including redistribution of tax credits and the higher taxes to pay for them, as well as the costs of minimum wage laws,” said Mr. Benefield.
“These costs only hurt workers with fewer jobs, fewer hours and reduced benefits, especially those [who are] the least skilled members of the workforce.”
In terms of race and ethnicity, 67 percent of households in Pennsylvania with inadequate income are white. Nine percent are Latino, 19 percent are black and 3 percent are Asian.
The release of the report marks the first time demographic data relating to the self-sufficiency standard has been collected in the state. Thus far, 37 states have conducted similar studies.
Jenny DeHuff can be reached at jdehuff@thebulletin.us
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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of thebulletin.us.
LVTfan wrote on May 14, 2009 2:46 PM:
" Further, it would have been relevant for a Philadelphia news source to note that Philadelphia has the highest proportion of its families living with insufficient income.
Might I humbly suggest that one of the contributors to this is Philadelphia's horribly perverse wage tax and its lack of a well-designed property tax? The combination results in fewer jobs, lower wages and expensive sprawl, along with a sad center city.
Connect the dots. They DO connect. This stuff is all more tightly related than most people realize. "
Might I humbly suggest that one of the contributors to this is Philadelphia's horribly perverse wage tax and its lack of a well-designed property tax? The combination results in fewer jobs, lower wages and expensive sprawl, along with a sad center city.
Connect the dots. They DO connect. This stuff is all more tightly related than most people realize. "
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LVTfan wrote on May 14, 2009 2:42 PM:
The more significant data point is one which the authors did not calculate: the percentage of Pennsylvania's children who live in families whose income is insufficient to meet their most modestly defined basic needs. Applying one assumption -- that families of 4 or more children have 4.5 children -- I calculate that just over 35% of Pennsylvania's children live below the local self-sufficiency income level for a family of their configuration. Connecticut and Colorado are in similar situations; in California, the figure is around 48%.
How have we gotten ourselves to the situation where it takes two full-time incomes to support even a small family? Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Tyagi wrote an important book a few years ago called "The Two-Income Trap" which speaks to this, but even they do not understand the mechanism.
Who does? Those who have read and studied Henry George's book "Progress & Poverty. Yes, an 1879 book lays it all out in plain English. It was a bestseller in its first 10 or so years, and its wisdom is highly relevant in 2009. Henry George (b. Philadelphia, 1839; d. NYC, 1897) sought, found and demonstrated the cause of poverty. It is structural, not individual, in nature, which is to say that the most all the bandaids we apply to it can do is change WHO is in poverty, not HOW MANY people.
But bandaids and charity are not the only way to respond to poverty.
Joseph Fels, of Philadelphia and Fels Naptha fame, saw the wisdom. Will you?
Inquire online (search on lvtfan or wealthandwant) or check out the courses at the Henry George School, located at his birthplace on S. Eighth Street. "