Latest news with #CenterforanUrbanFuture
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Poverty among older New Yorkers reaches record high: report
NEW YORK (PIX11) — A new report is shedding light on a worsening crisis: poverty among older New Yorkers is on the rise, with thousands struggling to afford basic necessities. Victor Lopez, a 65-year-old resident of Chelsea, Manhattan, is one of those affected. More Local News He has lived in the same apartment with his wife since 2010. Blind and living below the poverty line, Lopez depends on financial case management services from Encore Community Services to help him manage his daily challenges. 'It's hard because my income is very low,' Lopez explains. He lists the essentials that eat up his limited budget: 'Supermarket, for example, medications, transportation, the clothes.' Each month, he faces new worries about how to pay for these necessities. Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director of the Center for an Urban Future, is sounding the alarm. 'We're at an all-time high for older adults, people 65 and older,' he says. 'New Yorkers all over the five boroughs are really struggling to live comfortably in old age.' A recent report from the Center highlights the financial insecurity facing older New Yorkers, with a large majority lacking stable retirement income. According to up-to-date census figures, more than 250,000 seniors in the city now live below the poverty line. The Bronx faces the most severe burden among the boroughs lacking retirement income. Bronx: 63.6% Brooklyn: 63.5% Queens: 59% Manhattan: 53.2% Staten Island: 52.3% More: Latest News from Around the Tri-State Experts point to several factors driving this trend: the rising cost of living, insufficient retirement savings, and the growing number of people living longer lives. Bowles is calling for urgent policy changes to address the crisis. 'They're really struggling to get by in this very expensive city,' he says. Despite the barriers of Lopez's disability and limited job opportunities, he remains hopeful that action will soon help his generation live with dignity and security. For more information on the report, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New data shows elderly New Yorkers face financial hardship
A new study shows more older New Yorkers are living in poverty than ever — with many senior citizens having no money saved and returning to work. In association with the AARP, the Center for an Urban Future (CUF) released new data showing 18.4% of seniors living in poverty, and increase of nearly 41% over the past decade. Nearly 60% of Big Apple septuagenarians and their elders reported no retirement income, according to the center's calculations. At 63.6%, the Bronx reported the highest share of elderly adults with no income out of any borough. Brooklyn was a close second, followed by Queens and Manhattan respectively. Staten Island, where 52.3% of older adults reported no retirement income, fared best. CUF's policy brief showed nearly 19% of the city's elders report no income from Social Security. In 2023, 14.5% of senior New Yorkers were employed. That number is now 19%, which amounts to 245,959 elderly workers, CUF found. Compounding the issue is the fact that 1,366,151 older adults — a purported all-time high — call New York City home. CUF said that number constitutes 'a remarkable 33.5% increase over the last decade.' Only seven U.S. cities have entire populations larger than New York's number of elderly people alone. 'A staggering 250,901 New Yorkers aged 65 and over lived below the poverty line in 2023, up from 178,067 in 2013,' the CUF reported. Minority populations are being hardest hit among the aging. Citywide poverty rates among older Hispanic adults is 27.2%, followed by Asian older adults at 24.7% and Black older adults at 18.2%. White older adults reported a 12.9% poverty rate. Older immigrants reportedly face a 21.7% poverty rate, which is nearly 7% higher than what U.S. natives in New York City experience. The 25-year-old CUF offered several recommendations to help the city deal with its growing number of seniors in need of financial assistance. Those suggestions include solidifying funding for the Department for the Aging (DFTA), which 'has experienced major budget swings in recent years.' The center said financial stability within that agency would make planning for the future easier. A $50 million investment to improve 'NYC's crumbling aging services infrastructure' is also proposed. The CUF says many senior centers are operating with poor temperature control and ventilation systems — particularly in New York City Housing Authority developments.
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
New York City's Population Ticks Up to More Than 8.4 Million
In the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers packed up and fled, raising the possibility that the ravaged city had entered a long-term slide. New York's population has yet to fully recover, but new census data released on Thursday reveals that it is finally growing again after a steep drop. It reached 8.48 million in July 2024, up from 8.39 million in July 2023. The increase was seen as a positive sign that the population of America's largest city had not only stabilized but, in fact, seemed on track to resume the extended trend of growth seen before the pandemic, according to demographic and policy experts. 'Despite everything the city has had to overcome in recent years, people clearly want to be here,' said Jonathan Bowles, the executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a Manhattan think tank that researches policy issues facing cities. Mr. Bowles added, 'New York still faces a number of challenges, but there's a lot that's going right for the city today.' The city grew by about 1 percent, gaining 87,184 residents between 2023 and 2024 — largely because of a steady increase in newcomers from other countries — while at the same time fewer residents left for elsewhere, according to the census data. The number of births and deaths in the city remained relatively stable, with births continuing a slow downward trend, in line with a broader national pattern. However, the population remained well below its peak of 8.8 million residents, reached in early 2020. Even as New York's population has climbed back, many concerns remain about its future, including the high cost of living and a lack of affordable housing that has pushed out many lower- and middle-income residents in recent years. Mayor Eric Adams's legal problems have also left a leadership void, and the Trump administration's escalating crackdown on immigrants has alarmed many New Yorkers. New York has long relied on a constant influx of immigrants to replace those who leave and to propel the city's population growth. 'That's the secret to New York City's demographic success,' said John Mollenkopf, a professor of political science at the graduate school of the City University of New York. But during the first Trump administration, beginning in 2017, there was a decline in immigrants moving to the city, Professor Mollenkopf said. It remains to be seen how Mr. Trump's return will affect international migration, 'and that may temper that force in increasing the city's population,' he added. Before the pandemic, city officials had projected that New York's population would reach 9 million within two decades. Instead, the pandemic set off an exodus from New York and other American cities. Compared with the peak in early 2020, New York's population in July 2024 was down by a total of 326,118 people, according to census numbers. But fears of the city's demise turned out to be overblown. The new census numbers on Thursday notably revised last year's estimate to show that the city grew between 2022 and 2023 for the first time since the pandemic. According to the new numbers, the city added 34,709 residents in that period for a total population of 8.39 million. Earlier estimates had shown the city's population shrinking. City officials had challenged those figures, saying the number of migrants and other people living in group settings like shelters had been underestimated. More than 200,000 migrants have passed though the city's shelters since the spring of 2022. 'This new data puts a number to what we're feeling: New York City is back and growing again,' said Dan Garodnick, the director of the Department of City Planning. 'Our city remains a destination for people from around the world, and these numbers are very encouraging.' The new census numbers showed that Manhattan, the city's richest borough, grew by about 1.7 percent — the most of any borough. Its population increased for the third straight year, by 27,435 residents to 1.66 million. The populations of the other four boroughs also increased. Brooklyn and Queens each grew by nearly 1 percent, with Brooklyn adding 24,694 residents and Queens 22,159 residents. The Bronx and Staten Island each grew by less than 1 percent. The Bronx added 9,458 residents, and Staten Island — the only borough to fully recoup its pandemic population slide — added 3,438 residents. Donovan Richards, the Queens borough president, said that more people have moved to Queens as more affordable housing has been built in neighborhoods including Jamaica, Long Island City and the Rockaways. Mr. Richards said that he welcomed the arrival of more immigrants to the borough — including many who stay in city-run shelters — and that he saw them as part of its future. 'This borough will always be a sanctuary — a safe place and a harbor — for people looking to build a better life,' he said.
