Report says poverty, murder rates are up among Phila. children

from the Wilkes Barre Times-Leader

Nearly one-third of city children were living in poverty in 2004, up from about one-fourth in 1999, according to an annual "report card" unveiled by Mayor John Street.

The number of children living in poverty reached an estimated 111,683, or 30.3 percent, up from 25.4 percent in 1999, said the report produced for the city by the nonprofit group Philadelphia Safe and Sound.

The report said 179 people ages 7 to 24 were murdered last year, a 20 percent increase from 2005. Not all the trends were negative: the report said teenage pregnancies declined and fewer children were exposed to dangerous levels of lead.

Street, who has sought to expand services to improve young people's lives, acknowledged that "children are suffering." He said some problems in society do not seem to respond to efforts by the city, including a trend toward regarding some services "almost as a substitute for responsible parenting."