Children are poor. The poverty rate for New Yorkers 17 years of age and younger was 38.1 percent. Minorities are poor. The poverty rate for Blacks was more than two times and for Hispanic New Yorkers nearly three times higher than for White city residents. In 1997 the poverty rate for Blacks was 27.3 percent, Hispanics 38.1 percent and Whites 13.2 percent.
Poverty is concentrated in female-headed families with children.
While the poverty rate for all New York City families was 22.1 percent, the rate for female-headed families with children was 54.2 percent in 1997. Comparing New York City with the Nation New York City's poverty rate is nearly twice the national average. The disparity between New York and the nation extends, moreover, to detailed subgroups within the population. The New York City - United States difference is greatest for children and families with children and smallest for Blacks and Hispanics. It is no surprise, then, that the CPS reveals a dramatic drop in the proportion of poor New Yorkers who are receiving welfare benefits.