Title
Calling on the Committee on Public Health and Human Services of the Council of the City of Philadelphia to hold hearings examining the startling level of poverty in the City of Philadelphia and the high rate of poverty among the City's municipal workforce, and identifying governmental policies that have contributed to this crisis.
Body
WHEREAS, in the City of Philadelphia over 400,000 people are living in poverty, 200,000 of which are surviving on incomes that are less than half of the federal poverty level, and the City has a poverty rate of 27% with 13% living in deep poverty; and,
WHEREAS, Philadelphia's poverty rate has nearly doubled since 1970 and is 13 points higher than the U.S. national average; and,
WHEREAS, poverty affects certain populations more than others: 39% of children in Philadelphia live in poverty, along with 42% of Philadelphians of Hispanic or Latino heritage, 34% of African-Americans, 40% with any disability, 30% of the Asian population, and 42% of households lead by women; and,
WHEREAS, poverty is concentrated in certain sections of the city, especially in North and West Philadelphia where four zip codes have poverty rates over 45%
WHEREAS, of the nation's 25 largest cities, Philadelphia ranks 22nd in educational attainment and lower levels of education are strongly correlated to poverty: 38% of Philadelphians without a high school diploma live in poverty, while only 8% of college graduates do; and,
WHEREAS, the median household income in Philadelphia is $16,295 less than the national average and of the nation's 25 largest cities only Detroit's is lower; and unemployment in Philadelphia is 133% of the national average, with large sections of the city suffering from labor force participation that is below 65%; and,
WHEREAS, even the City's municipal workforce is impacted by the high poverty rates in Philadelphia, as revealed in a recent report by Temple Professor Michael Bognanno, with 41.9% of DC33 and DC47 m...
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