Meeting Needs of Low-Income New Yorkers

There is a gap between existing services that are designed to help poor New Yorkers and actual needs met, especially when it comes to the most vulnerable residents. Across an entire spectrum of necessities, large numbers of city residents reported need for assistance in some form or another. Yet across these same domains, many fewer reported actually getting all the help they needed, suggesting considerable room for improvement and cooperation between government and social service providers. Certain types of assistance were even harder to obtain. For example, New Yorkers with housing and employment needs had a particularly difficult time getting the full assistance they needed.

The Poverty Tracker is a longitudinal study of the dynamics of poverty and disadvantage in New York City. It is a joint project of Robin Hood and Columbia University.