Pittsburgh Families Must Make $60K Just To Make Ends Meet: Study

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA - A family of four with young children needs to make more than $60,000 just to make ends meet in Pittsburgh and its suburbs, a new study released this month by the nonprofit Pathways PA shows. The 2020 Overlooked and Undercounted report examines the cost of basic necessities by creating a "Self-Sufficiency Standard" for each Pennsylvania county.

The newly released Self-Sufficiency Standard, which uses data from 2019, shows what you need to make just to be able to pay for housing, child care, food, healthcare, transportation, taxes, and other miscellaneous basic needs.

According to the study, more than 846,000 working-age Pennsylvania households lack enough income just to cover those basic needs.

Keep in mind the Self-Sufficiency Standard is a "bare-bones" budget that covers only the basic necessities at a "minimally adequate" level but without public assistance, the study said.

Families in Allegheny County's 130 municipalities are grappling with high child care and housing costs, according to the data.

"We find that Pennsylvania families struggling to make ends meet are neither a small nor a marginal group, but rather represent a substantial proportion of the state," the report summary states. "Individuals and married couples with children, households in which adults work full
time, and people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds account for substantial portions of those struggling to make ends meet in Pennsylvania."

Many Pennsylvania families are struggling to meet this income standard and make ends meet, the report notes. In Allegheny County, 19 percent of households are living below the standard,

which is $60,484 for a family of four that includes two school-aged children. Ten percent live below the poverty level.

The income needed to meet the standard is considerably higher with younger children. In Allegheny County, a family of four that includes two preschoolers needs $68,214; a family of four that includes a preschooler and an infant needs $69,725.

"With one out of four Pennsylvania households lacking enough income to meet their basic needs, the problem of inadequate income is extensive, affecting families throughout the state, in every racial/ ethnic group, among men, women, and children, in all counties. Nevertheless, inadequate income is concentrated disproportionately in some places and among some groups," the report summary states.

The families most at risk for not being able to earn enough to pay for necessities are those with young children, the report notes. Single parents are particularly at risk: "The combination of being a woman, having children, and solo parenting is associated with the highest rates
of income inadequacy — particularly for single mothers of color," the report summary said.

You can explore the Self-Sufficiency Standard for each Pennsylvania county here.

Patch staffer Kara Seymour contributed.