Poverty in Philadelphia Essay Example

Philadelphia has the most people in poverty across every major city. According to economy league.org, Philadelphia has a rate of 23.3% of people living in poverty. Poverty has occurred due to being fired from a job, lack of shelter, physical disabilities, and gender discrimination. Poverty usually occurs from a lack of necessities or money needed to live. Being a single parent with children can also impact you heavily. There are many causes of poverty, and they all come with different effects. 

Physical disabilities play a huge role in poverty in Philadelphia. If you're disabled physically or mentally, you have a lower chance of getting a job than a person who isn’t disabled at all. According to NBC news, people with disabilities are less likely to be employed. To be exact, they stated, "People with disabilities are also far less likely to be employed than workers with no disabilities." There are several factors driving this disparity, including discriminatory hiring practices and fewer people with disabilities completing bachelor's degrees. The pandemic has only exacerbated this gap. " To explain this quote, people with disabilities are less likely to be hired than those without a disability. In addition, during the pandemic, being disabled and working was very unlikely. Thirty-six percent of the people with disabilities were employed.

 Gender discrimination is one of the major effects of women or men not having jobs in Philadelphia. Men usually make more than women"capable." Furthermore, women make less money than most men in the U.S. Women play a huge role in Philadelphia. According to Penn education, A professor stated, "Despite the crucial role women play in ensuring household livelihoods, Pennsylvania boasts a 76% gender wage gap, with women making an annual average of $38,000 and men making $50,000 (approximately $0.76 to every $1.00). This results in a stark annual income difference of approximately $12,000." As a result, gender discrimination in Philadelphia is another reason why most people in Philadelphia are poor. People believe that women and men are meant for certain jobs. 

Being a single parent in Philadelphia is hard enough, you have to raise a kid, and also you have to work solo, potentially struggling for money. 44% of a single parent household are in poverty in Philadelphia. If you're a single parent, you have to provide for your kids and worry about making sure they have enough money to live off, pay bills, food, etc. According to the Philadelphia inquirer, they have stated “A 2014 report by the strong families' coalition found that single mothers are the head of households for 44% of the families. 60% of the single mothers/fathers are living in poverty.” To add, The rate was 22 percent in 2017, but now doubled to 44%. There are various difficulties of being a single mother, but money is the main concern and making sure your child grows up well.

As expected, the results indicated that poverty is one of the most major problems in Philadelphia, with a 23.3% rate. To say that people aren't going through poverty would be a lie. Every single person in poverty has a reason why they are poor. If they choose to or not. As stated before, there are various causes of poverty and every single one of them has different effects. Some causes are stronger than others. To sum it up, Poverty is one of the most and will stay one of the most major issues in Philadelphia.