A new report published by the Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia’s Poor: Who they are, where they live, and how that’s changed, unpacks what it means to call Philadelphia the nation’s “poorest large city.” The report examines the demographics of poverty in Philadelphia and in the region, and compares historical changes in the geography of poverty across the nation’s largest cities and regions, as well as its poorestcities and regions. The findings offer a more nuanced portrait of poverty that accounts for factors such as regional migration, racial and ethnic changes, patterns in employment, and the local regulatory context in creating the current dynamics of poverty and prosperity in Greater Philadelphia.

The December Shared Prosperity Philadelphia roundtable will feature a presentation by Pew researchers Larry Eichel (Director, the Philadelphia Research Initiative) and Octavia Howell (Officer, the Philadelphia Program) on the report findings and how they can be used to reinterpret how we understand poverty in Philadelphia and its relationship to poverty trends in cities and regions across the county.