Poverty rises in Allegheny County

Pittsburgh’s poverty level increased again in 2005, despite that the poverty rate remained… Pittsburgh’s poverty level increased again in 2005, despite that the poverty rate remained steady nationwide last year.

According to the most recent figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of Pennsylvanians living in poverty — defined by the federal government as a household income of $20,000 or less for a family of four — increased from 11.7 percent in 2004 to 11.9 percent in 2005.

In Allegheny County, it increased even more, from 11.1 percent in 2004 to 12.4 percent in 2005.

That increase translates to nearly 14,000 residents of Allegheny County slipping beneath the poverty line — a threshold described by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank as “unrealistic” — between 2004 and 2005.

“The group that had the largest increase in poverty rates in Allegheny County was the 18-64 year-olds,” Food Bank chief executive officer Joyce Rothermel stated in a press release.

Iris Valenti, public relations coordinator of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, said that one reason for the increase in this area and among the 18- to 64-year-old bracket could be the area’s continued loss of unskilled manufacturing jobs. These jobs are frequently given to younger workers with less training, education and experience.

She also attributed the increase to the failure of wages to keep pace with the cost of living.

“We’re also seeing more working people making use of our food pantries,” Valenti said. “Working people have less wiggle room. One bad heating bill, one lost job, one medical setback can make it difficult for them to make ends meet.”

The Food Bank’s services are available to those with incomes of up to 150 percent of the poverty rate.

In 2004, Allegheny County was one of only five counties nationwide with populations larger than one million to experience an increase in poverty. In that year, Pennsylvania was one of only seven states to report an increase in poverty.

Between 2004 and 2005, the number of residents receiving food stamps also jumped by 14,000. According to the Food Bank, roughly just 60 percent of people eligible to receive food stamps actually do receive them.

In comparison to poverty rates nationally, Allegheny County still ranks favorably. According to Christopher Briem of the University’s Center for Social and Urban Research, the reason for this is the County’s high concentration of elderly people.

“Children have the highest incidence in poverty, and because as a region we are older and less diverse…you get as a corollary a lower poverty rate here,” Briem said in an e-mail.

He added that older citizens have a lower poverty rate because Social Security and SSI often put them right above the poverty level.

According to Briem, “when looking at the city specifically, it is important to note that the city of Pittsburgh is a very small piece of the region. This means that the core urban poverty that exists here is concentrated more in the city of Pittsburgh than may be true in other comparable cities. For this reason we often like to compare metropolitan regions to each other, and not necessarily cities which vary significantly in size.”

The Food Bank’s statistics could be misleading because they are taken from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Unlike the Census, the American Community Survey does not include those living in group quarters.

“For some issues this is not a big deal,” Briem wrote, “but for poverty I suspect it is, especially because of the incidence of poor elderly living in nursing homes.”

According to Valenti, Pitt is a significant help in the Food Bank’s work.

“The University of Pittsburgh is highly involved with food drives. There’s even one coming up at the Homecoming game,” she said. “Volunteers for individual activities like special events or at our warehouse are a huge help, too.” The Marketplace is also holding a food drive on Oct. 18, which will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest drive at a non-charitable organization.

Information about volunteering with the Food Bank is available from Wendy Lachendro at (412) 460-3663, ext. 211.