Press release

Contact: Walter Fields
(646) 942-2788
wfields@cssny.org

RANKS OF THE WORKING POOR SWELL IN NEW YORK CITY

Poverty Rises for Single Mother and Working Families

September 27, 2006, New York, New York— According to Poverty in New York City 2005: More Families Working, More Working Families Poor, a report released today by the Community Service Society (CSS), over one-in-ten of the city’s families with children (11.8 percent) are living in poverty despite full-time, year-round work.  The rise in working poverty reflects an ongoing decline in inflation-adjusted earnings.  Annual earnings by working families plummeted during the recession.  And families at the lower rung of the pay scale have seen no recovery in their earnings during the recent economic upturn.  The full report is available online at www.cssny.org.

David R. Jones, CEO and president of CSS, notes, “Our latest research on poverty adds a layer of complexity to the recent recommendations of the Mayor’s Commission for Economic Opportunity, on which I served.  Families are working harder, and growing poorer.  And single women with children are slipping further into poverty.  The findings suggest the best efforts of the city will be frustrated if we do not see an increase in wages and public policy that supports working families.”

The report reveals that single mother families constitute two-thirds of New York City’s poor families with children.  After experiencing a dramatic rise in employment and fall in poverty since the mid-1990’s, employment by single mothers is trending downward and the poverty rate for single mother families has climbed by 9.9 percentage points since 2002/2001.

According to Dr. Mark Levitan, Senior Labor Market Policy Analyst at CSS and author of the report, “The continuing decline in earnings for working families with children is a particularly disturbing development.  It is swelling the ranks of the working poor.” 

Key findings include:

• Earnings for New York City working families at the lower rung of the pay scale have fallen by 14.3 percent since the end of the 1990’s.
• The poverty rate for the city’s working families climbed from 8.3 percent in 2000/1999 to 11.8 percent in 2005/2004.
• The share of poor families in New York City who are engaged in full-time, year-round work rose from 24.0 percent in 2000/1999 to 42.3 percent in 2005/2004.
• Nearly one-in-three (31.9 percent) of the city’s children lives in poverty.  New York City children living in single mother families endure a 54.0 percent poverty rate.
• New York City’s poverty rate has averaged 1.7 times the U.S. poverty rate over the past quarter century.
• Poverty rates for people of color are roughly 2.5 times those of Non-Hispanic Whites.  In New York City, poverty rates stood at 11.5 percent, 30.2 percent, and 29.1 percent for Non-Hispanic Whites, Non-Hispanic Blacks, and Hispanics, respectively.
• The growing immigrant presence in New York is commonly cited as an explanation for the city’s high poverty rate.  But the poverty rate for New Yorkers who were born abroad is actually lower than the poverty rate for the city’s native-born.  Only immigrants who have entered the U.S. from 2000 have a poverty rate that is higher than the native-born population.  This group, however, comprises only 7.2 percent of the New Yorker City population, far too small a share to offer a simple explanation for why poverty in the city is so high.

David R. Jones adds, “If New York City is to maintain its competitive advantage in the global economy and retain its international status, we must make certain that all New Yorkers are in a position to contribute to the city’s resurgence.  Strategies to confront the challenges facing the working poor must be at the forefront of the city’s economic agenda.”

The Community Service Society (CSS) is a leading, independent, nonprofit organization that provides innovative solutions to the most urgent problems facing low-income New Yorkers. Please visit the Community Service Society’s website at www.cssny.org.

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