Poverty in Bucks County

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On Friday, PathWays PA presented information on our Self-Sufficiency Standard before the Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition. This Coalition works to serve women and girls and is focused on achieving economic self-sufficiency for all through advocacy work in areas of child care, health care, housing, transportation, job and workforce development; domestic violence and addiction issues affect all areas of concern.

Marianne Bellesorte spoke to the group about the high cost of making ends meet as shown by the Standard. For a family of three in Bucks County it can cost over $60,000 just to make ends meet. The cost of living directly relates to the amount of people living in poverty. In 2010, Bucks County had a 2.7 percentage point increase in the number of people living below the Federal Poverty Level. In other words, over 17,000 more people were living below poverty in the county in 2010 compared to 2009. This represents a higher percentage increase than in any county in the five county area, including Philadelphia.

The Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition is working to address poverty in the county by focusing on housing, health care, and the cliffs effect (when someone receives a dollar raise but in turn loses critical benefits).

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