Clinton County child poverty rate declines, elderly rate increases
By Anthony Hennen | The Center Square
HARRISBURG, PA – Pennsylvania has a generational divide in poverty. While its child poverty rate has dropped in almost two dozen counties in recent years, its elderly poverty rate has risen in almost a dozen counties.
The data, coming from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year estimates, show a national trend of declining child poverty rates, from 21% in 2012-16 to 17% in 2017-21. Though good news, the child poverty rate remains higher than the overall poverty rate of 12.6%.
The elderly poverty rate (those ages 65 and over) was 9.6%, a slight increase from 9.3%, and 3 percentage points lower than the national average.
In the commonwealth, no counties had a statistically significant jump in child poverty, and 21 counties declined. Most of the decreases were in western and southern Pennsylvania: Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Berks, Bedford, Blair, Center, Clarion, Clinton, Cumberland, Fayette, Franklin, Indiana, Lancaster, Lycoming, McKean, Philadelphia, Somerset, Washington, Westmoreland and York counties.
The highest child poverty rates in Pennsylvania were in Forest (34.8%), Philadelphia (32.7%), and Potter (25.8%) counties, according to the Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates.
In contrast, elderly poverty rates increased nationally and in Pennsylvania on the county level. “More counties saw poverty rates among older populations increase than decrease from 2012-2016 to 2017-2021, the opposite of the pattern seen among children,” the Census Bureau said.
Pennsylvania’s pattern was repeated across the region.
“In the Northeast, 0.9% of counties had an increase in child poverty rates but 14.8% of counties showed an increase in the poverty rate of those ages 65 and over,” the bureau said.
The elderly poverty rate went up in Bradford, Clearfield, Clinton, Dauphin, Forest, Lehigh, McKean, Montour, Philadelphia and Pike counties. Only Centre County had a drop in its elderly poverty rate.
As Pennsylvania’s population ages and its workforce shrinks because of out-migration and a falling labor force participation rate, the state’s Independent Fiscal Office has warned that its budget surplus could become a deficit.
The expected increase in demand for government services, as The Center Square previously reported, will outpace the increase in tax revenues.
