Child poverty in New York State continues to exceed the national rate, as it has for more than a decade.
This week, Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy released The State of New York’s Children 2023 Data Book. Key data points for child poverty, child care, child welfare are outlined below.
On Wednesday, a briefing was held to present the findings as well as policy recommendations for supporting New York’s children, especially those impacted by poverty. [View slides from the briefing.]
One of the key learnings of the last three years is that government policy can make a real and immediate difference in the lives of children and families who are struggling to make ends meet. Three years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we now have the data to show that thoughtful policies, with adequate funding for implementation, can be powerful tools to build a stronger and more equitable state and country. Those policies include tax credits, food assistance, child care supports, and expanded health coverage.
Entering 2023, New York State is at a pivotal moment: armed with compelling data about the policies that meaningfully improved the well-being of New York’s children, what actions will our state leaders take?
“Healthy children and supported families are the foundation of a thriving society—these are the investments that pay off for everyone, now and for generations to come,” said Kate Breslin, Schuyler Center President and CEO. “Our recommendations are rooted in data, and we have more evidence than ever that the right public policies can drastically cut poverty rates in our State and our country.”
Among the key data points in the 2023 State of New York’s Children Report:
Child Poverty in NYS:
- New York’s children are more likely to experience poverty than children in the U.S. as a whole: Child poverty in New York State continues to exceed the national rate, as it has for more than a decade.
- In 2021, approximately 747,000 New York children, nearly 20%, experienced poverty.
- Black and Hispanic children experience poverty at much higher rates, due to structural, historic, and ongoing racism in housing, employment, education, policing, and other systems.
- State and federal income and food supports have long protected hundreds of thousands of New York children from experiencing the sharpest impacts of poverty— especially during the pandemic when federal supports were dramatically expanded
- With pandemic enhanced supports ending, the number of children experiencing poverty and economic hardship is on the rise.
Policy recommendations for child poverty reduction:
New York State must move toward achieving codified commitment of cutting child poverty by 50% in a decade, with attention to reducing racial inequities.
Priority actions for 2023 include:
1. The Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council should immediately identify and advance budget strategies to significantly cut child poverty this year and measure the Executive and Enacted Budgets regarding their impact toward New York’s commitment to cut child poverty and reduce racial inequities.
2. Strengthen New York’s child tax creditby (a) securing a robust credit for children under age four (a group currently excluded altogether from New York’s credit); (b) restructuring the credit so the highest credit goes to the lowest income families—by ending the state’s regressive minimum income requirement and phase-in; (c) increasing the credit amount to provide families meaningful support; and (d) ensuring the credit continues to be available to as many immigrant families as possible.
Child Care access:
- Last year’s increase in income eligibility for child care assistance has made more than 250,000 New York children newly eligible for child care assistance; a potentially life-changing support for these children and families. However, even if a family can afford child care – on its own, or with assistance – finding child care in many communities is a challenge that is growing. Licensed child care capacity in New York State has sharply declined since 2019, particularly in the home-based sector which serves a proportionately high percentage of families receiving child care assistance.
- New York’s early childhood educators, 96% of whom are women and 56% who identify as people of color, are paid such low wages they live in poverty at more than twice the rate of New York workers in general. Many cannot afford to remain in the field. New York’s child care workforce is down by 8% compared to the fall of 2019.
Policy recommendations for improving child care access:
Continue to make substantial and concrete progress toward achieving high-quality, culturally-responsive, universal child care.
Priority actions for New York State in 2023 include:
1. Establish a Quality Child Care Workforce Compensation Program.
2. Continue to incrementally expand access to high-quality child care to more families, prioritizing low-income families; families from historically underserved communities, and families facing complex needs.
3. Ensure the New York State Child Care Availability Task Force is convened and acts quickly and boldly to develop and implement a plan for Universal Child Care in the state.
The Child Welfare system:
- New York’s child welfare system currently operates in ways that disproportionately involve, investigate, and separate Black and Latino children and families. Specifically, Black children are nearly twice as likely as white children to be reported to the State Central Register (SCR); more than twice as likely to be in indicated reports; and over five times more likely to be placed in the child welfare system.
- Most children who are separated from their families and placed in the child welfare system are removed from their homes without receiving preventive services.
Policy Recommendations for transforming child welfare:
Transform the Child Welfare System by investing in family strengthening, prevention of system-involvement, reducing institutional placements, and transparency and accountability of the system.
In 2023 it is imperative that New York:
1. Invest in community-based primary prevention services. Primary prevention services address basic economic, health, housing, child care, education, and social needs, and do not require a family to be involved in the child welfare system to gain access.
2. Increase New York State’s portion of funding for child welfare preventive services from 62% to 75%.
3. Reduce the number of children in institutional placements, including emergency placements, and expedite reunification.
4. Collect, publicly report, analyze, and take action to address systemic complaints in the child welfare system.
For further details on these policy recommendations, view Schuyler Center’s 2023-24 Policy Priorities for Child and Family Well-Being
All sources and computations can be found here.
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Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy (SCAA) is a leading statewide, nonpartisan, policy analysis and advocacy organization based in Albany. SCAA works to shape policies to improve health, welfare, and human services for all New Yorkers, especially children and families impacted by poverty and inequitable systems. Learn more at www.scaany.org
