Home  Place of Birth   Nonmarital Status   Correlations

 

    The implications of the AIDS epidemic are felt within the counties with larger cities such as Philadelphia, Delaware, Lehigh, and Berks County. Due to the large number of individuals living in these areas, one might expect that there should be a greater number of AIDS cases within these particular counties. However, the same issues that plague urban areas, such as poverty and a need for public assistance, directly correlates with the rate of AIDS cases per 100,000 individual as seen in table 2 and chart 2 (1):

Table 2: Correlation of public assistance income and below poverty income

Correlation of public assistance income

Correlation of below poverty income

-0.90461

0.75442

 

Chart 2: Correlation of public assistance income and below poverty income

This correlation of increased public assistance and income below poverty level and rate of AIDS cases per 100,000 may show that the level of education on sexually transmitted diseases and the amount of protection being used are not evenly distributed among all socioeconomic levels. As witnessed within my urban public school, the relative level of education of sexually transmitted diseases was far less than those individuals living within the rural entities of Pennsylvania, who have a higher socioeconomic status. Thus, this direct correlation between the public assistance income and the income below poverty level thriving in the urban counties of Pennsylvania is easy to comprehend due to the lack of education and resources provided to this oppressed group of individuals.

See the map on correlation of public assistance and income below poverty level