National Review, February 2, 2017: Philly’s Drink Tax Is Hurting Consumers, Businesses, and the Poor
“Sadly, the citizens of Philadelphia are in for similar hardships, particularly the city’s poor. Beverage taxes are regressive, meaning the poor will pay a larger percentage of their income on the tax. That’s partly due to the fact that the poor have a harder time leaving the city limits in order to take advantage of lower prices in the suburbs. According to the Pew Charitable Trust, Philadelphia has one of the highest poverty rates of the nation’s ten largest cities. Median household income in the City of Brotherly Love is far lower than the national average, with more than 400,000 Philadelphians living below the federal poverty line, including 37 percent of children and 43 percent of Latinos.”