By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A new study of New York City’s poor residents that measures factors like cost of living, childcare, food and housing has revealed an increase in the city’s overall poverty rate.
The study, by the NYC Center for Economic Opportunity, indicated that the poverty rate rose by 1.4 percent between 2006 and 2008, contradicting the declining figures shown in federal studies.
One of the biggest drivers of the city’s poverty rate — which sat at 22 percent in 2008, the last year the study was conducted — is the high cost of housing. Despite the economic downturn, rents and the cost of homes in New York remain among the highest in the nation.
A person’s level of education also correlated directly with their poverty level, though those with some education saw an increase in their poverty levels during the two-year study period.
The study showed that the poverty rate for working-age adults who have not graduated high school remained consistent at 34.5 percent, while the poverty rate for working-age adults with some college education grew by 3 percent, to 18.5.
Even working-age adults with college diplomas weren’t immune to the recession, with their poverty rates growing 2 percentage points, to 9.2 percent.
The poverty rate among blacks grew the fastest, the study stated, to 25.1 percent.
“The fact is, 480,000 more people would be living in poverty but for the investment this city makes in affordable housing,” Commissioner Rafael E. Cestero told the New York Times, defending the administration's efforts to reduce poverty. “The report focuses our efforts on ensuring that the housing we create is for those most in need — the working poor, who are on the verge of falling into poverty.”
