As Figure 1 makes clear, New York City's poverty rate, at 26.5 percent, towers over the national average of 13.8 percent. Moreover, the difference between the city and the nation is getting larger. The poverty rate for New York City's minorities is over three times that for Whites. Children are poor. The poverty rate for New Yorkers below the age of 18 was 41.8 percent.
Income is another important measure of economic well-being.
The difference, moreover, between family incomes of the city's minority and White families remains enormous. In 1995, Black median family income was only 50.8 percent of White median family income. Hispanic median family income was a mere 40.7 percent of White median family income. But New York City's labor market is weak. Recently, the gap has been growing.