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1/16/2009
Safety net strained by recession, study shows
By Alfred Lubrano
Inquirer Staff Writer
Americans are used to the idea of a safety net.
Stretched beneath us all, we believe, is an interlocking series of social-service programs meant to catch us should hard times knock us down.
But the recession is straining the net, and the need for assistance has grown exponentially in just the last year.
" Never in my life have I seen a time in which everything is culminating together for potential complete disaster," Steveanna Wynn, executive director of the Philadelphia-based SHARE Food Program, said yesterday. "I personally have never been more nervous about how in the hell are we going to do this?
How do we make sure that in Philadelphia, people are not going sick and hungry without adequate food?"
Wynn's remarks were sparked by the release this week of a comprehensive report called "The Recession's Impact on the Safety Net in Ohio and Pennsylvania."
The report was prepared by a number of nonprofit organizations in two states, including the Philadelphia Foundation, which has been doing philanthropic work in the region for 90 years.
" The rate at which we're seeing need increase is greater than expected," foundation president R. Andrew Swinney said yesterday. "More and more families need help fulfilling their most basic needs, and resources are being depleted."
The
report looks at the growing costs of food, housing, utilities, child care and
unemployment between November 2007 and November 2008.
The findings are startling, Swinney said, even for Americans now growing used
to a litany of worsening economic news.
For example, in Philadelphia, the unemployment
rate rose from 4 percent in November 2007 to 5.9 percent in November 2008,
according to the report.
Using current data, the report then extrapolates what the unemployment rate
in the city will look like in the near future: 7.8 percent in 2009, 8.5 percent
in 2010.
" There is no indication that the rate of unemployment will lessen in the near future," Swinney said.
The report's analysis of food-stamp use is no less grim.
The monthly average of food-stamp recipients in Philadelphia between July and November 2008 was 5 percent higher than during the previous year. About 341,000 residents received food stamps during that period in 2008, compared with around 325,000 in the preceding year.
Meanwhile, Philabundance, the largest hunger-relief organization in the area, saw a 20 percent increase in the number of families using the food bank between 2007 and 2008, the report said.
And it's getting worse, according to Wynn, who said cupboards throughout the area were seeing a 26 percent to 50 percent increase in the number of families using food banks in recent months.
This comes at a time when food is much more expensive and donations to food charities are down.
" The cupboards are not turning anyone away at this point," Wynn said. "But they are giving people less food."
At the same time, the waiting list for child-care subsidies went from 7,000 families to 14,000 families throughout the state in just one year, according to the report.
Things are no better in housing, where the number of foreclosed properties in Philadelphia rose from 3,064 in the first quarter of 2008 to 5,378 in the third quarter, the report showed.
And as winter delivers its worst weather yet, utility costs are up 23 percent, the report said.
Exacerbating these problems is the continued strain on the safety net.
Many programs, such as food banks, were not supposed to be used as often and as regularly as they are.
" The safety net meant for emergencies was never designed to accommodate the critical conditions many people find themselves in," Swinney said.
For help, cities need an injection of millions of dollars from the federal government, akin to the Wall Street bailout, Swinney said.
Meanwhile, it's up to individuals to help, said Martha Buccino, senior vice president of Philabundance. "People need to give not just in the giving season, but throughout the year," she said.
Wynn agreed. "Everybody needs to give a can, a dollar, to food pantries," she said.
" The thought that we can spend the next six months just concerned about our own little worlds is pretty much over. If the whole doesn't survive, then the little bitty pieces aren't going to, either."
Contact staff writer Alfred Lubrano at 215-854-4969 or alubrano@phillynews.com
