Last week I posted on the new Small Area Income and Poverty Esimates (SAIPE) for the U.S. and Pennsylvania and for Cambria and Forest Counties. The poverty rates for the U.S., Pennsylvania, and every county in the state are presented in the table at the bottom of the post. Subsequently, this post will look at […]

After a month delay, the Census bureau came out with new poverty estimates for 2024 for every state, county and school district. The Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates were probably delayed by the government shutdown. They also had to catch up on other economic statistics such as the unemployment rate. The map above shows […]

The last post on student homelessness in Cambria County School Districts got a huge response. The map above from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania shows that this issue is not just a Cambria phenomenon. This post will take a look at student homelessness in the Alleghenies outside Cambria County. Not all of the school districts […]

This holiday season (and every other season) it is important to remember those less fortunate. Accordingly, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania produced the map above. It shows all of the school districts in the state. The districts highlighted in green have rates of student homelessness that are higher than the state rate of 1.89% for […]

Imagine your fridge is empty, your mailbox is quiet, your children are waiting — and the federal safety net you depend on is just… paused. That’s the reality for many families right now. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Propel’s 2023 report, about 26% of SNAP participants identify as Black/African American, 16% as […]

Jackie Allison has written another post on the Constitution. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution […]

In an update to the most read post of last year, I am taking a look at the new poverty estimates for the school districts in Pennsylvania. The Census Bureau has come out with new Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) for every school district in the U.S. for 2023. With the New Year, […]

With the arrest of Luigi Mangione, Altoona has been in the news lately. He is charged with the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. I have covered Johnstown, PA extensively because I live here. Because they are in the news I thought that I would take a closer look at […]

Local members of Put People First PA were interviewed for the website Breakthrough News on how medical debt is impoverishing and killing its victims. The video can be seen above. Government measures (which haven’t changed since the 60s) of poverty are often criticized for being inflexible. To respond to these criticisms, the supplemental poverty measure […]

The Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) also include estimates for each school district in the U.S. The graph above shows poverty rates over the last 25 years for 5 local school districts: Altoona, Greater Johnstown, Indiana, and State College. We can see that there was a decrease in the rates for 4 out […]