Starting in October, the Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO) is partnering with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation to host a workshop series on financial inclusion for people with disabilities.
According to an FDIC survey in 2019, working-age disabled households are less likely to have bank accounts compared to other working-age households. This means that disabled households are more likely to use predatory financial services, such as check-cashing services, for paying bills and other transactions. Individuals without bank accounts are also less likely to build up savings and less likely to have access to affordable credit for major purchases or dealing with emergencies.
These realities put economic pressure on people with disabilities and make it more likely that they will experience economic insecurity and poverty. According to a National Disability Institute (NDI) report in 2019, “it is often said that disability is both a cause and consequence of poverty and poverty and disability reinforce each other, contributing to increased vulnerability and exclusion.” The report goes on to say that “various factors and influences affect the relationship between race, poverty and disability.”
Black Americans are more likely to have a disability than white Americans, which is a gap that widens as people get older. The poverty rate for adults with disabilities is twice as high as compared to adults without disabilities, and this gap holds true for Black disabled Americans, who have a poverty rate of 37 percent.
Achieving greater financial inclusion for people with disabilities is key to helping Philadelphians achieve economic mobility from poverty. The workshops are open to all, but will focus on three main audiences:
- Financial institutions,
- People with disabilities and caregivers,
- And social service providers.
ASL and CART will be provided for all sessions. If you require additional reasonable accommodations, please contact Claudia Tasco by the deadline for each session found in the respective registration links below via phone at 215-686-2798 or email: Claudia.Tasco@phila.gov.
Register for our workshops
Workshop for Financial Institutions:
October 6, 2022, 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Workshop for People with Disabilities and Caregivers:
November 3, 2022, 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Workshop for Social Service Providers:
November 17, 2022, 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
