Pennsylvania
State Government
Governor
Josh Shapiro (D)
State Senate
22
Democrats,
28
Republicans
State House
102
Democrats,
101
Republicans
Economic well-being - Pennsylvania
Extreme poverty rate
0.07
Food insecurity
0.132
Minimum wage
7.25
Percent of working families under 200% of the poverty line
0.273
Poverty rate
11.6%
Unemployment rate
4
Number of Black or African American children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Number of Hispanic or Latino children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Percent of individuals who are uninsured
5.8
Poverty by demographic - Pennsylvania
Child poverty rate
0.15
Number of Asian and Pacific Islander children below 200% poverty
29000
Number of Black or African American children below 200% poverty
191000
Number of Hispanic or Latino children below 200% poverty
215000
Senior poverty rate
10.4 %
Women in poverty
6,429,348
The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 30, 2014: Scholarships: 2,000 low-income Philly kids to go to nonpublic schools
"The Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia announced Thursday that 2,000 new, four-year scholarships were available to help low-income city families send their children to nonpublic schools for kindergarten through eighth grade. The scholarships begin with the 2015-16 academic year. Established in 1998, Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia now provides financial aid to 4,500 city children at 185 nonpublic schools."
William Penn Foundation and Drexel Join Forces to Transform Early Childhood Education in West Philadelphia
"The William Penn Foundation and Drexel University today announced a new initiative in which they are working together with community child care centers and other local agencies to help tackle some issues facing early childhood education in West Philadelphia. ...In January 2014, West Philadelphia was identified as one of five federally-designated Promise Zones, a new initiative that is helping revitalize high-poverty communities across the country through a hybrid of efforts including creating jobs, increasing economic activity and improving educational activity."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 25, 2014: Pediatric group promotes reading aloud to children
"On average, 48 percent of parents nationwide reported reading to their children every day, according to the 2011-12 National Survey of Children's Health. Among families living below the poverty line, only 34 percent read to their children daily. Higher-income families, who earned at least 400 percent of the federal poverty threshold, did somewhat better: Sixty percent read daily to their youngsters."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 23, 2014: Task force targets educational needs of homeless youngsters in Pa.
"A task force charged with studying the educational needs of homeless youth in Pennsylvania has issued a report that includes establishing a statewide advisory council as one of 13 recommendations on how to best serve homeless students."
The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 31, 2014: N.J. better than Pa. in feeding children breakfast
"New Jersey has shown marked increases in getting low-income children to eat breakfast in school, while Pennsylvania has demonstrated slow improvement in serving the meals."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 24, 2013: Evidence mounting that poverty causes lasting physical and mental health problems for children
"It's one of those puzzles of poverty with health impacts on children. Three recent studies add to mounting evidence that poverty can exact a lasting toll on a child's mental and physical well-being, with stress representing a key pathway."