FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2009
Contact: Jamie Arehart (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 267-350-7699)

Residents Report Difficulty Paying Monthly Housing Payments, Utilities

PHILADELPHIA-Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) releases its 2008 Household Health Survey housing report today for Chester County. Conducted by PHMC's Community Health Data Base (CHDB), the survey, which examines the health and health care experiences of area residents, is one of the largest regional health surveys in the country.

Chester County residents struggling
• Nearly half, (43%) of residents report difficulty making their monthly housing payments, including utilities. For comparison, 48% of residents in the Southeastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) five county region report difficulty. To see a breakdown by county, please click here
• 62% of adults reporting difficulty are renters and 39% own their home
• 46% of households that report difficulty have children in residence. This represents about 27,000 households

Health and housing in Chester County
• 17% of adults who report difficulty making their housing payments also report being in fair or poor health versus 8% of adults who report little difficulty
• More than one in five adults (22%) who report difficulty making their housing payments also have a chronic medical condition versus 19% of adults who report little difficulty

Characteristics of Chester County adults struggling to pay housing costs
• 76.2% of Chester County's poor adults, those with household incomes below 100% of the Federal Poverty Line, report more difficulty making housing payments compared to Chester County's non-poor adults (41%)

Ethnicity Trends in Chester County
• Latino adults (69%) report more difficulty making housing payments than their White (41%), Black/African American (51%) and Asian (40%) counterparts

Data from the 2008 SEPA Household Health Survey was collected by a randomized telephone survey of 10,000 households in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties. Special reports covering trends and disparities in area health and health care, such as hunger, obesity and social capital, are featured monthly on the CHDB website, www.phmc.org/chdb.

For media inquiries or specific data runs, please call contact Jamie Arehart at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 267-350-7699. For more information on CHDB, please contact Francine Axler at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 215-985-2521.