More people will be considered poor but no more will get assistance

[dajoki]

Being Poor in Pensacola Is Different than Being Poor in Philadelphia
by Brittany Shoot May 21, 2010 04:15 PM (PT)
http://uspoverty.change.org/blog/view/being_poor_in_pensacola_is_different_than_being_poor_in_philadelphia

Having lived in both rural and urban areas, I'd like to think I know a little bit about the drastic differences in the relative cost of living. It isn't just a city/suburbs dichotomy, though; depending on your geographic location, your income will differ, as will your cost of living, which includes everything from rent to property tax, car insurance to public transit, healthcare to a gallon of milk. Pretty significant stuff when you start to think about how much value we put on those things as individuals — let alone how the government weighs them against one another.

Take, for example, the evidence in a new report released this week by Pathways PA, a Pennsylvania women's and children's advocacy organization. While the federal poverty level holds steady at a measly $22,050, the study reveals that a family of four in Philadelphia with one preschool-age and one grade school-age child would need to make nearly $60,000 a year to even make it on the most bare bones budget.

How can this kind of discrepancy exist? Simply put, the federal poverty level guidelines haven't been updated in decades. Times have changed, much like families' needs, and the guidelines don't include what we now consider the basics: professional childcare, more expensive transport and soaring healthcare costs.

(The Census Bureau's plan to develop a new poverty measure will include the differing costs of necessities in various geographic areas. It will not, however, be anything more than a recommended threshold. So more people will be considered poor but no more will get assistance.)

The recession has only made things worse. In the last two years alone, childcare and food costs in Philadelphia have risen as much as eight percent, healthcare has gone up more than 20 percent and housing costs have risen 23 percent, Pathways PA president Carol Goertzel told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Ranking just behind New York, Boston and Chicago, Philly is now the fourth most expensive city in the country in terms of cost of living.

It ought to go without saying, though clearly it doesn't: using the generalized federal standards in these areas simply isn't accurate.