The Distribution of Poverty in the Third District

It would be beneficial to examine how households in the Third District have been affected by the recent economic downturn. Thinking locally, we can examine both overall poverty rates in our three-state region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware and where poverty is the most severe. This report looks at county poverty rates in 2008, in the early part of the recent downturn, and compares that to rates from 2000, the peak of the last major expansion. Data for 2009, which will reflect more of the downturn’s impact, will not be released until the end of 2010.