Poverty Information Resources

New York State Poverty Rates - August, 2008

              "New York has the highest poverty rate of all the northern states. No progress on poverty and family               incomes since the 2001 recession Fewer New Yorkers are now uninsured but 2.5 million New               Yorkers still lack health insurance coverage."

Working Families in NY Cannot Meet Basic needs - June, 2008

              "Thirty percent of New Yorkers in working families can’t cover basic needs with their wages.
              Work supports can make a difference, but more must be done.."

Spotlight on Poverty Website

   "In order to stimulate a national dialogue on poverty and opportunity, the Spotlight website offers current press coverage, commentary and debate, and the policy options. Recent reports, analyses, and data on poverty and opportunity will be profiled on the site and readily available to policy makers and thought leaders. "...from Spotlight on Poverty

Poverty in New York State

  Many New Yorkers still need the hand up that Community Action Agencies offer. As the state with the 12th highest rate of poverty (14.3%), 2.66 million New Yorkers, including 888,000 children, currently live in poverty...

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

"The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals."

"The Center conducts research and analysis to inform public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these debates.  We also develop policy options to alleviate poverty."...From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

 This paper provides important data in support of that effort, estimating the number of families needing work supports and the extent to which work supports in New York close the gaps between earnings and the income necessary to achieve a decent standard of living.

 Nearly one out of three people in working families in New York—5.7 million New Yorkers—are unable to make ends meet, even after receiving public work supports. In New York, low-wage, low-benefit jobs and limited work supports leave fully 30 percent of people in working families in a hardship gap: working, but unable to meet a basic family budget.

2006 Poverty Rates in New York Counties

This chart shows the number of individuals living at or below the federal poverty guidelines in each county of New York State. It also shows the median income levels of each county.

The State of Working New York - 2007 (From New York Fiscal Policy Institute)

 A comprehensive, in-depth view of every aspect of New York state's economy, with a focus on central concerns including the wage-productivity gap, worker benefits and social insurance, economic polarization, poverty levels and the difficulties families face when trying to lift themselves out of poverty.

Links To US Anti-Poverty Organizations and Other Resources (From RESULTS)

 A list of links to a wide collection of agencies and organizations that address hunger, poverty, child issues, welfare, asset development, microcredit and health care in the United States.

A Profile of Immigrants in New York State (from New York Fiscal Policy Institute)

 What role do immigrants play in the New York State economy? How about in upstate New York? In the downstate suburbs? In New York City? What countries do immigrants come from? Where do they work? How well are they doing?
 New Yorkers who want the facts can now turn to a major report from the Fiscal Policy Institute, Working for a Better Life: A Profile of Immigrants in the New York State Economy

The Global Distribution of Poverty (From SEDAC, Columbia University)

 A unique and valuable resource that shows the levels of human poverty graphically on maps of the world's continents and countries.