Philadelphia Research and Policy Initiative

How the Philadelphia Municipal Court’s Civil Division Has Responded to the Pandemic

Philadelphia Municipal Court is often the first or only place where people encounter the city’s court system. In 2018, 90,948 cases were filed in the civil division. Court administrators have always sought to make it easy for litigants to handle their cases without an attorney, an option that is much more difficult in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas, which handles felony cases and civil claims typically in excess of $10,000.

How Philadelphia’s Minimum Wage Compares With Other U.S. Cities

The notion of raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage—and thereby Philadelphia’s—has been a topic of considerable debate over the past year, both in the state Legislature and elsewhere. As of Jan. 1, 2020, Philadelphia’s minimum wage was $7.25 an hour, where it has remained since 2009.

Every spring since 2009, The Pew Charitable Trusts has gathered data from numerous sources for our “State of the City” report on Philadelphia. But this year, because of COVID-19, the findings must be seen in a different light.

How Will the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect Philadelphia's Underfunded Retirement System?

The COVID-19 pandemic will have a vast and far-reaching impact on cities’ budgets, in terms of both reduced revenues from a widely shuttered economy and increased expenditures for essential services. And in Philadelphia, those expenses include financing the underfunded retirement plan for city workers.