Poverty rate rising in Phila.

from The Daily Pennsylvanian

St. John Barned-Smith

Poverty is rising in Philadelphia - faster than in the nation as a whole.

As of 2005, 24.2 percent of the city - about 340,000 people - was living in poverty, according to data released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau. That number represents an increase from a poverty rate of 18.5 percent in 2000.

Philadelphia also contrasts sharply with state and national averages. Pennsylvania's poverty rate for 2005 was 11.9 percent and the national average was 13.3 percent.

Both state and national averages increased by about two percent from 2000 to 2005.

In comparison with other large cities, New York's poverty rate in 2005 was 19.1 percent and Washington D.C.'s was 18.3 percent.

Experts cite a lack of jobs, educational failures, housing issues and crime as key factors in Philadelphia's struggle against poverty.

Philadelphia has been suffering from high poverty rates for over 30 years, as it continues to suffer from massive losses in jobs in manufacturing, said Roberta Iversen, a professor in Penn's School of Social Policy and Practice.

"There was a failure of leadership to realize the kinds of educational and training needs we were going to face in order to adapt to the loss of an industrial economy and its replacement by high tech and service," Jean Hunt, executive director for Campaign for Working Families, wrote in an e-mail.

Other recent factors include the relegation of minorities to dense neighborhoods of moderate to high levels of poverty and "very little job creation," Iversen said.

Jeff Deeney, a social worker and freelance writer who writes frequently about his work in Philadelphia's poorest neighborhoods, also cited housing segregation as a concern.

"The poorest parts [of the city] are very isolated socially - they don't generally butt up against neighborhoods that are thriving."

Deeney also blames a lack of jobs, a broken housing system, and "schools that look and function a lot like correctional facilities" for much of the problem.

"People don't understand what life under the poverty line looks like," he said.

Deeney explained that many single-parent families live on less than $1,600 a month. If they should lose their homes "the path back into housing is really long and really difficult,"

The high poverty rate was a key issue in the mayoral campaign and remains a priority for newly inaugurated Mayor Michael Nutter.

Nutter's plans include tax credits for employers of ex-felons, doubling the population of college graduation rates of city residents and cutting the high school drop-out rate in half.

Pennsylvania Congressman Chaka Fattah, who also ran for the Democratic mayoral nomination, echoed Nutter's goals.

"Two numbers have to be changed, the 25-percent poverty rate, and the 18 percent of Philadelphians that have four year college degrees," he said.