Poverty Measure - NYC Opportunity

The Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity

The Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity


Poverty MeasurePoverty ToolPoverty Publications


Poverty Measure

The Poverty Research Team is responsible for the development of the NYCgov Poverty Measure. The alternative NYC poverty measure, in comparison to the official U.S. measure of poverty, includes a threshold that accounts for the higher cost of housing in New York City. Additionally, it incorporates the value of programs intended to alleviate poverty; adjusting family incomes for benefits such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The work has received nationwide attention and contributed to development of the Federal Supplemental Poverty Measure.

The New York City Government Poverty Measure, 2021

This NYC annual poverty report updates the NYCgov Poverty Measure for New York City in 2021. This report covers the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the employment market was severely disrupted, and it shows the dramatic impact that government support can have on poverty levels.

The year 2021 saw the largest economic supports in U.S. history, most of it the form of direct cash payments. The result was extraordinary declines in the poverty rate. Child Poverty was cut in half, due primarily to an enhanced Child Tax Credit, which provided monthly payments of up to $3,600 per child from July to December of 2021.

Poverty fell for all demographic groups in every borough. Despite those positive trends, the differences across groups and neighborhoods persisted, and the intensity of poverty became worse for some. Even the best news, the historic declines in poverty, was short-lived. When the enhanced Child Tax Credit expired, national data for 2022 shows that child poverty, in particular, returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The data quality for 2021 improved compared to 2020, when data quality was severely impacted by the disruptions of the pandemic. Some problems still remain with the data, however, and this year's report compares the findings for 2021 to those of 2019, the year before the pandemic.

Full NYCgov 2021 Report

The New York City Government Poverty Measure, 2020

The latest NYC Opportunity annual report on poverty updates the NYCgov Poverty Measure for New York City in 2020. This year's report, which covers the first year of Covid-19, provides less robust poverty data than past reports because of significant pandemic-related limitations in data collection in 2020.

The NYCgov poverty measure that this report contains each year is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey (ACS) supplemented by city, state, and other national data. The 2020 ACS survey, however, was suspended for several months, and the overall response rate was lower, and uneven across demographic categories.

To compensate for these problems, the Census Bureau issued a set of "experimental" one-year data. Making cautious use of that data, this report finds that the poverty rate fell by 0.8 percentage points in 2020, a statistically significant drop that seems plausible in light of the temporary aid New York City households received. Because of the data problems, the trend's trajectory (a notable decline in poverty) is more reliable than the actual rate.

Full NYCgov 2020 Report

Past Poverty Reports and Technical Appendices

CEO's first working paper on poverty in New York City, issued in August of 2008, contrasted poverty rates for 2006 derived from CEO's application of the NAS methodology against those based on the official method. The 2010 report focused on how and why poverty rates using our methodology have changed over time, using the one-year ACS samples for 2005 to 2008.

2019

Full Report

APPENDIX A: The Poverty Universe and Unit of Analysis

APPENDIX B: Deriving a Poverty Threshold for New York City

APPENDIX C: Adjustment for Housing Status

APPENDIX D: The NYCgov Tax Model

APPENDIX E: Estimating the Value of Nutritional Assistance

APPENDIX F: Estimating the Value of HEAP Benefits

APPENDIX G: Work-Related Expenses

APPENDIX H: Medical Out-of-Pocket Expenditure

APPENDIX I: Accuracy of the Data and Changes to the NYCgov Model

2005-2018

Full Report

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Appendix H

Appendix I

2005-2017

Full Report

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Appendix H

Appendix I

2005-2016

Full Report

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Appendix H

Appendix I

2005-2015

Full Report

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Appendix H

Appendix I

The CEO Poverty Measure

The CEO Poverty Measure

2005-2014

2005-2013

2005-2012

2005-2011

2005-2010

2005-2009

2005-2008

2008