A new report from Children First PA has found that over 30 percent of Bucks County families struggle to make ends meet, leaving a “shockingly high” number of children on assistance programs, writes Chris Ullery for the Bucks County Courier Times.
According to the report, to afford the basics — rent, food, transportation, health insurance, and other essentials — a family of four there needs an income of $86,268, over double the federal poverty threshold. If child care is needed, this increases to $105,096.
The report is part of the nonprofit’s A Decade of Stalled Progress series, analyzing the effects of shifting demographics and public policy on children in Philadelphia and its five collar counties.
Around five percent of families in Bucks County reported having difficulty securing food in 2021, and nine percent in 2022 — the first increase since 2017. Around 17,886 children relied on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as of September, up 10 percent from 2014.
Meanwhile, near the end of last year, roughly 3,500 children were on SNAP’s Women, Infants, and Children program, a county five-year high.
Read more about the report and just how prevalent assistance programs are for Bucks County families in the Bucks County Courier Times.
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