Working Poor Families Project Releases New Data

By -
The Working Poor Families Project (WPFP) has recently provided updated data on the conditions of working families in the U.S. a whole, the fifty states, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

These data are the quantitative data generated for WPFP by the Population Reference Bureau from American Community Survey (ACS) 2009 and the Current Population Survey (CPS) 2010.

The data give a comprehensive picture of the economic and demographic realities of Pennsylvania’s working poor families. Working poor families often earn too much to qualify for significant government benefits, but often they do not earn enough to make ends meet. The data below are a snapshot of the challenges faced by Pennsylvania’s working poor families and highlight the areas where these families are particularly vulnerable.

The following data are for Pennsylvania:

• 69.5% of families who earn less than 200% of the federal poverty line (FPL) are working families (334,650 families <200% that are working/ 481,730 total families <200%)

• 25.7% of working families earn less than 200% FPL (334,650 families <200%/1,303,240 total working families), with 7% of working families earning less than 100% of FPL (94,455 working families <100% FPL/ 1,303,240 total working families)

• 30% of children in Pennsylvania have families who earn less than 200% FPL (728,060 children/ 2,420,390 total children in PA)

• 56% of working families who earn less than 200% FPL spend more than 33% of their household income on housing.

• 26% of families who earn less than 200% FPL have at least one parent without health insurance (*this data was collected before the cancellation of adultBasic in March, 2011, which greatly affected workers who earned too much to qualify for Medicaid but did not have employer-based health insurance, in other words, the people most likely to make up this data point)

• Pennsylvania ranks 49th out of all states for the percentage of adults with only a High School diploma or equivalent, with 35% of people ages 18-64 not receiving any post-secondary education

• However, Pennsylvania ranks in the top ten nationally for percentage of people ages18-24 who are enrolled in post-secondary education institutions (undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools) at 45% enrollment

• 26% of workers ages 18 and over in Pennsylvania work in low-wage jobs, with Pennsylvania’s state adjusted low-wage at $11.05 per hour (national low-wage adjusted for state cost of living)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overlooked and Undercounted: Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Pennsylvania

By -
Image
Census data tells us that 13% of Pennsylvania households live in poverty. In reality, even more households don’t have the income they need to reach self-sufficiency. One in four Pennsylvania households – over 846,000 – lack enough income to cover just the necessities. Since 1997, PathWays PA has worked with Dr. Diana Pearce and the University of Washington to calculate  The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Pennsylvania . Over the last 23 years,  The Self-Sufficiency Standard of Pennsylvania  has documented the continuing increase in the real cost of living, illuminating the economic crunch experienced by so many families today. Since 2010, PathWays PA and the University of Washington have also issued three versions of the  Overlooked and Undercounted  report, which looks at the number of households living above and below self-sufficiency. You can now use the interactive materials below to find out what it takes to be self-sufficient in your county. Click ...
Read more

Mini-Budget Update-Supporting the American Community Survey

By MB -
Image
(via The Census Project ) Next Tuesday, June 19 is an important date to mark on your calendar. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee is holding a public hearing on the economic impact of eliminating the American Community Survey (ACS) at 2:30 p.m., in Room 210 of the Canon House Office Building. Witnesses that will be speaking in opposition to the move to eliminate the ACS are Vincent Barabba, former director of the Census Bureau in two GOP administrations and Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Association of General Contractors and also representing the National Association of Business Economists. It is very important that we pack the congressional hearing room! If you cannot come, please urge your colleages to come. If you represent a non-DC organization contact your friends in Washington and urge them to attend. Also on Tuesday of next week some of our congressional supporters will be holding a noon press conference in the so-called House Triangle right outside the Cap...
Read more

Overlooked and Undercounted in the Media (#media)

By MB -
Image
Below are all of the places we've seen Overlooked and Undercounted in the month of May! If you know of anywhere else, please let us know! You can also listen to the audio from our May 11 Conference Call on our website . May 21, 2009 - New Report Says 1 in 5 PA Families Live in Poverty May 21, 2009 - LTE: Clarifying ‘Overlooked And Undercounted’ Study May 19, 2009 - Caught in a trap: State and federal governments must help working poor May 16, 2009 - Study: Local poverty estimates too conservative May 15, 2009 - Study: Pa. Families Above Poverty Level, But Still Struggling May 12, 2009 - Study: 1 in 5 PA Families Struggling to Make Ends Meet May 12, 2009 - Report: Many PA families struggling May 12, 2009 - PathWays PA Releases New Report on Self-Sufficiency Standard May 12, 2009 - Poverty worse in PA than reported: study May 11, 2009 - 1 in 5 PA Households Can't Make Ends Meet May 11, 2009 - Study: 1 in 5 PA residents can't make ends meet May 11, 2009 - 1 in...
Read more