Half Of New Yorkers Have Lived In Poverty, Study Finds

NEW YORK CITY — Half of New York City dwellers have lived in a state of poverty within the past five years, according to a disturbing new analysis.

Roughly 3.4 million adult New Yorkers lived in poverty for at least a year between 2015 and 2018, according to a new study fromColumbia University and the charitable institution Robin Hood.

Sophie Collyer, Columbia University research director and co-author of newly released Poverty Tracker report, said the study, "reveals that standard snapshots of poverty and disadvantage fail to capture the magnitude of challenges New Yorkers face."

Analysts used the Supplemental Poverty Measure — set at $35,730 in New York City in 2018 — to follow a 4,000-person sample group every three months from 2012 to 2018 and collect data on how life-changing events affected their financial status.

Among those surveyed was a Queens man named Ron, in his late 50s, who spiraled into poverty after his partner suffered a medical emergency, the study shows.

His family could not find ADA accessible affordable housing, so she moved to a nursing home and expenses mounted, he told researchers. Eventually, his daughter was forced to leave a specialized, college-track high school so to start working.

“It’s hampered her, her efforts, too," the Queens man said. "Until we get situated, you know, she’s…she’s disabled as well.”

Poverty Tracker data showed people of color saw disproportionately high levels of poverty, with about 68 percent of Hispanic New Yorkers and 59 percent of Black New Yorkers living in poverty during the study.

Poverty was most prevalent in The Bronx, where 26 percent of residents experienced at least a year of poverty, Brooklyn had 22 percent, Queens 21 percent and Manhattan 16 percent, analysis data show.

More than a third of New Yorkers who pulled themselves out of poverty returned a year later, researchers found. While the adult poverty has fallen in New York City since 2012, it remains about eight points higher than the national rate.

“This Poverty Tracker underscores the urgent need for meaningful and sustainable economic mobility," said Wes Moore, CEO of Robin Hood.

"It is far too easy for families across New York City to fall into poverty, and far too difficult for people to escape it."