Council ActionCommittee on Public Health and Human Services
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WHEREAS, Intergenerational households are those in which grandparents or
other older relatives or individuals who are not biological or adoptive parents act as primary caregivers to children; and
WHEREAS
, Grandparents and other older adults who act as primary caretakers of children must manage the stresses of raising children while dealing with the issues affecting older citizens such as limited resources, fixed incomes, and health demands; and
WHEREAS, The number of intergenerational households in America has risen from five million in the year 2000 to over six million according to the latest figures
; and
WHEREAS, Nearly half of children not living with their parents reside with a grandparent and nearly a quarter of children not living with their parents are raised by older relatives. Five percent of children in Pennsylvania are under the primary care of a grandparent; and
WHEREAS, Nationally, about one third of grandparents acting as primary caregivers have not graduated high school and are far more likely to be poor, with about one in five surviving on an income stream below the poverty line. Approximately half of these households direct at least 30 percent of their income to pay for housing; and
WHEREAS, In Philadelphia the figures are even more alarming; 40 percent of grandparents acting as primary caregivers live in poverty; and
WHEREAS, Large numbers of children who do not have a parent in their lives will enter the foster care system if grandparents or other relatives do not agree to care for them. Grandparents and older adults who care for these children must manage the stresses involved in raising children as well as the issues facing aging adults; now therefore,
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That City Council's Committee on Public Health and Human Services is hereby authorized to hold hearings to examine the prevalence and implications of intergenerational households in Philadelphia.
End