| Releases & Statements
Contact: Frank Sobrino
O: (212) 669-4193 C: (646) 250-4322
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August
29, 2006
Statement
of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
on Release of Federal
Poverty Statistics
”Once again, U.S. census data paints a disturbing picture
of economic conditions in New York City: In 2005, nearly 1 in
5 New Yorkers and almost a quarter of city families lived below
the poverty line; nearly 700,000 New Yorkers lived at half of
the poverty line or below.
“But it is important to understand
this: The problem of poverty in our city is even more severe than
the Feds’ numbers suggest. There are thousands of working
New Yorkers who do not technically live below the poverty line,
but nonetheless struggle to support themselves and their families.
“According to an innovative
analysis of federal food insecurity data by the New York City
Coalition Against Hunger, more than 400,000 working adults in
New York City lived in families that lacked sufficient food in
2004. Despite their struggles, thousands of these New Yorkers
are not counted among the city’s poor.
“Despite this alarming finding,
the number of New York City residents participating in the federally
funded Food Stamp Program has dropped for the second summer in
a row.
“I am determined to close the
gap between the number of New Yorkers in need of food aid and
the number actually receiving such aid. To advance the fight against
hunger and ensure that work pays in New York City, I am joining
Joel Berg, executive director of the Coalition Against Hunger,
in committing to a Working People’s Food Security Action
Plan, including the following recommendations:
1) Further raise the State minimum
wage—set to rise to $7.15 an hour next January—to
$8.00 an hour to achieve parity with the new rate set by California.
2) Intensify and expand efforts by
the City and State to increase access to existing Earned Income
Tax credits, food stamp benefits, Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC) benefits, school breakfast and summer meals, child care,
and health care. Specifically, the City and State should work
together to extend benefit office hours and use their authority
to allow working people to apply for benefits over the phone rather
than having to physically visit benefit offices.
3) Raise the Federal income and assets
limits for the Food Stamp Program to harmonize eligibility with
other programs such as the WIC program.
4) Increase Federal, State, City,
and private sector funding for food pantries and soup kitchens
that serve large numbers of working families.
“I’ve been advocating
for these common sense steps for years. I am calling on policy
makers at the City, State, and Federal levels—as well as
the City’s business leaders—to build consensus around
these recommendations to help lift thousands of working families
out of poverty.”
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