An eye-opening new report shows that in 2022, 1 in 4 New York City children lived in poverty.
"We're seeing historic increases in child poverty at both the city and national level," said Sophie Collyer, research director at the Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy.
The new statistics released by researchers at Columbia University and the Robin Hood Foundation found that in 2022 a half-million more New York City residents lived in poverty compared to 2021 — the biggest single-year jump in a decade. The report defines living in poverty as not being able to afford basic needs like housing and food.
In total, more than 1.5 million adults and more than 400,000 children in the Big Apple lived in poverty in 2022.
Collyer says the ending of pandemic-era relief programs are to blame for the increase.
"That includes the federal expansion to the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, and also things like unemployment insurance expansions," she said.
According to U.S. Census data, child poverty in the U.S. more than doubled in 2022 when coronavirus pandemic-era government benefits expired and inflation kept rising. Collyer says minority groups are the most affected.
"Currently more Black and Latino children are disproportionately ineligible for the federal child tax, the full federal child tax credit, because their families don't earn enough to qualify for the full credit," she said.
The report also recommends permanently expanding the federal child tax credit and a similar state child tax credit in New York.
The changes could help up to 76,000 children living in poverty.
SEE MORE: House passes bill that would extend child tax credit
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com
