The surprising costs of surviving and thriving in Philadelphia | Editorial

Philadelphia’s status as one of the poorest big cities in America, with 26% of the population living at the poverty level, is a fact well-known enough to be part of our identity. For a family of four, that means a salary of $26,200. About 11% of Philadelphians live on half that, conscripting them to deep poverty.

This reality keeps many in the city up at night figuring out how to make a difference in a rate that has remained stubborn for so long. The impacts of this reality on children, health, education, violence, mortality, and the city’s overall future is critical.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s FY 2021 budget aims to cut billions of dollars out of the budget for food stamps and other assistance over the next 10 years. Imposing new work requirements on able-bodied adults up to age 65 without children and limiting the number of times people can receive food stamps (currently three months within a 36 month period) is expected to cut 700,000 from assistance. Citing a booming economy, low unemployment, and a desire to wean people off dependency on government, Trump claims that already, millions no longer need foods stamps and are “doing really well.”

The disconnect between the myth of lazy people living off of the government and the reality — most people who get food stamps actually work — is bad enough. But there is a more dangerous disconnect between the number of people working and how much money it actually takes to be self-sufficient.

This disconnect was made stark recently in a report by PathWays PA, working with the University of Washington. Their “Overlooked and Undercounted” brief found that it actually requires a salary of $70,000 for a family of four in Philadelphia to be self-sufficient. Inquirer reporter Alfred Lubrano points out that 60% of households in the city take in less than $60,000 a year. In the suburbs, the self-sufficiency standard is even higher, requiring an $88,000 annual salary. This data clearly has huge implications for how we measure — and try to improve — the health of the region.

This data was echoed by a series of “Underwater” reports by Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth issued last year that underscores the disparity between the actual cost of living and the wages earned by people in Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia Counties.

The point is, while jobs may be more plentiful, wages aren’t. PathWays PA found that the expenses analyzed for creating its self-sufficiency standard — food, child care, rent, etc. — rose 30% since 2010, but wages rose only 17%.

We can’t stop focusing on the causes and solutions to poverty. But it’s time to broaden our view of what it takes to actually survive and thrive in this economy. Families struggling to make ends meet have little to do with laziness or dependency. It has everything to do with a blindness to what a “booming economy” really means if wages are inadequate to meet the basic needs of families.