As part of the Coalition for Low-Income Pennsylvanians, Community Legal Services welcomes Rep. Reed’s committee’s Beyond Poverty report. The report accurately outlines many of the barriers facing the low-income Pennsylvanians we see every day, including lack of jobs and employment opportunities, criminal records, lack of affordable child care, transportation, and health insurance, and the inability to move forward in life in the face of hunger and homelessness. We look forward to continuing to work with Rep. Reed and his committee as they move into Phase Two of their efforts. While we share the committee’s goal of transitioning poor Pennsylvanians to self-sustainability, we fear the report reinforces the perception that poverty is a personal failing. It pays too little attention to the fact that a changing economy, with a greater share of low wage jobs with few benefits, has made escaping poverty much harder. Many poor Pennsylvanians are unable to find work, and those who do may be unable to get full-time hours. Even full-time workers may find that their wages are insufficient to enable them to afford rent, food, health care, and child care. To raise families out of poverty, we need a stronger economy paying higher wages and better access to education and training for low-income parents, who lack the job skills necessary to obtain jobs with family-sustaining wages, as well as a strong safety net for those unable to find work or whose barriers prevent them from working. (A link to the report is in the comments of this post)
Posted on: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 20:05:56 +0000
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