Among blacks and Hispanics, the figure is 10 percent higher. National poverty rates are based on income levels set by the federal government. If a family's income falls below those so-called poverty thresholds, then the family is considered poor. They are the poorest families. The state does not calculate separate figures on poverty rates for female heads of households.
Poverty affects all aspects of a household, including the ability to find housing.
Craig Stevens, regional coordinator for the Pennsylvania Low Income Housing Coalition, said that 10,000 households in Pittsburgh are paying at least 50 percent of their income for housing, or living in substandard housing. Under federal standards, families should not spend more than 30 percent of their income for housing. In Pennsylvania, Stevens said, that means that 47 percent of people seeking two-bedroom apartments are unable to afford them. For people leaving the welfare rolls, housing is even harder to obtain. Every day I get a stream of people calling who can't afford the market rents and they're looking to get into public housing or Section 8 housing.