New York City’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 9.4 percent in July, the State Department of Labor has reported. This decrease from last year’s peak of 10.5 percent marks the seventh straight month of declining unemployment in the city, with job gains in financial services, professional and business fields and leisure and hospitality.
But unfortunately, these figures don’t tell the whole story. As a recent study by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University illustrates, lower-income households are more likely to experience unemployment than higher-income households. This study found that the unemployment rate for households earning $12,499 or less was 30.8 percent, almost 10 times that of households earning $150,000 or more (3.2 percent).
Furthermore, unemployment calculations don’t include job-seekers who have stopped looking for a job because they can’t find work, or underemployed individuals who accepted a part-time position to make ends meet. So the economic situation may actually be worse than reported.
And while the gradual uptick in employment has caused some economists to be cautiously optimistic, the unemployment rate doubled from 4.7 to 9.4 percent between the start of the recession in December 2007 and July 2010 (see chart below).
In these tough economic times, the Food Bank is working to strengthen the safety net that is so essential for New Yorkers affected by the recession. Our network of food pantries and soup kitchens provides food for low-income people of all ages in all five boroughs; our Tax Assistance Program helps secure millions of dollars in refunds to stretch budgets and boost the local economy; and our food stamp programs help enroll New Yorkers in this important federal benefit.
There is a long road ahead before the jobless rate returns to pre-recession levels. And with your support, the Food Bank will be there to help New Yorkers make it through.
The recession is not likely to end any time soon for most New Yorkers.
This month the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the January unemployment rate in New York City was 10.4 percent (almost 412,802 people) — more than double the city’s 4.8 percent unemployment rate at the start of the recession, and higher than the current national rate of 9.7 percent (14.9 million people).
And these figures don’t even include workers who are unemployed but have not looked for a job in the past four weeks or underemployed workers who are seeking full-time work but were forced to take a part-time job. If these groups were included, the US’s total unemployment rolls would include 26.2 million people.
As a result, more people are now trying to fill fewer and fewer jobs. Analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found there are now 5.4 workers for every job opening, up from 1.7 at the start of the recession. That means the length of time workers are unemployed is also rising: laid-off workers now spend more time unemployed than at any other time on record — a median of almost five months.
Higher rates of unemployment and poverty mean more people will be forced to choose between food or rent, utilities and other necessities when allocating scarce dollars. January is the sixth, consecutive month of double-digit unemployment in our city, and local soup kitchens and food pantries are already feeling the effects: in the past year, more than 90 percent of our city’s emergency food programs have reported an increase in the number of people seeking assistance.
Alleviating hunger caused by high unemployment in New York City will require the preservation — even the expansion — of safety nets like the city’s Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP), which provides food to hundreds of soup kitchens and food pantries.
It will require the implementation of policies like Universal School Meals, which help more children from low-income families gain access to needed food while creating jobs in school kitchens and cafeterias.
And it will require the implementation of sustainable solutions — a living wage, more affordable housing and lower health care costs — that would help struggling families afford food, even during difficult times.
The Food Bank continually works to raise awareness and support for hunger relief through media, providing information, data and stories of those in need.
Here are some of the recent stories that have featured the Food Bank so far this holiday season:
THIS WEEK: Fox 5, “Good Day New York”
NY Weather Authority Mike Woods visits the Food Bank For New York City’s 90,000 square-foot Bronx warehouse to help get the word out about hunger in our city, interview President and CEO Lucy Cabrera and repack food for delivery to food pantries and soup kitchens.
WNYC, “The Brian Lehrer Show”
Áine Duggan, the Food Bank For New York City's Vice President of Research, Policy & Education, discusses hunger in New York and demand at food assistance programs across the city.
The New York Times, “City Room” blog, “Stimulus Funds Stock Pantries and Soup Kitchens” Nationwide, food assistance programs received an extra $100 million in resources from the stimulus, on top of the $250 million that was originally budgeted. New York State’s financing soared 118 percent to $45 million, of which $28.5 million went to New York City.
Time/The Associated Press, “Food Banks Go High Tech to Feed the Hungry”
Food banks across the country are undergoing a high-tech revolution, adopting sophisticated databases, bar coding, GPS tracking, automated warehouses and other technologies used in the food industry that increasingly supplies their goods.
NYC Hunger Experience 2009: A Year in Recession — the Food Bank For New York City’s new report, just released — reveals that throughout the five boroughs, the number of residents experiencing difficulty affording food decreased from 3.9 million (48 percent) in 2008 to 3.3 million (40 percent) in 2009 — even as all indicators, from soaring unemployment to rising food insecurity, suggest that today’s environment is even worse for low- and middle-income households. Is it possible that affording food has been easier for New Yorkers during the past year of the recession?
These findings suggest that the response to the economic crisis in the last year, including the federal stimulus package (the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, ARRA), had a real impact. ARRA and other measures bolstered resources for emergency food, food stamp benefits, the Earned Income Tax Credit, unemployment benefits and other supports for low- and middle-income families. These resource increases were an important step. However, as the lines at food assistance sites grew — including an increase in the number of first-time visitors reported by 93 percent of the soup kitchens and food pantries in our network — emergency food organizations citywide are still struggling to stretch resources and many have been forced to reduce their services.
And, while the Food Bank has worked hard to confront the unprecedented level of need seen over the past year, the 3.3 million New Yorkers experiencing difficulty affording food in 2009 continues the steady rise in need we have seen over the past six years.
As we look to 2010, most of the increases in support — designed as temporary responses to the recession — will soon end. The danger of losing ground and continuing this steady and worrisome trend is real. Further, in the current federal fiscal year, New York City is budgeted to receive half as much food from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) — an important piece of the hunger safety net — as we did last year.
Therefore, it is essential to address growing demand at soup kitchens and food pantries with immediate support for the hunger safety net that we know works. We must also implement permanent, long-term solutions to food poverty, including establishing affordable housing, health care and a living wage.
For further information from the Food Bank's recent report, NYC Hunger Experience 2009, download the full report and listen to Food Bank Vice President of Research, Policy & Education Áine Duggan on WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer Show."
Low-income workers are still far from able to afford basic necessities after the minimum wage increased this July from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour (New York State minimum wage increased from $7.15 per hour). This is especially true in New York City.
While the increase is a step in the right direction, research conducted by Columbia University’s National Center for Children in Poverty shows that a family of four in New York City needs an income of up to $65,000 or more per year to afford basic necessities such as rent, food, health care, child care and transportation. Two parents working full-time (40 hours per week) for a full year at minimum wage would earn just more than $30,000 before taxes. To make ends meet, families are often forced to go without food, prescriptions or doctor’s visits.
Here are a few things that we’ve been reading around the office recently. Are there any stories you’d like to share? Leave a link in the comments!
The USDA projects free and reduced price lunches to reach a 41-year high for the 2009–10 school year, McClatchy reports.
Daily Dish, the LA Times food blog, writes about Food Bank partner Whole Foods and the “Renegade Lunch Lady” teaming up to help improve the quality of school lunches.
In the New York Times Magazine, David Leonhart discusses the policy implications of approaching obesity as a serious health risk like smoking. While we certainly don’t condone any form of employment discrimination — one rather extreme example — the article provides an outline for how to reshape the fight against obesity.
In an NPR story about migrant children’s health in China, they explore healthy eating in schools as a tool to better not only physical health, but also school performance.
As the recession persists, this summer is proving to be particularly hard for low-income families. Unemployment figures released this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that 14.5 million Americans are unemployed (9.4 percent) — more than double since the start of the recession. Research shows that millions of New York City residents depleted their savings in 2008 and would not be able to afford food immediately after losing their household income. As indicated by the Food Bank’s report, NYC Hunger Experience 2008 Update, 25 percent of households with children in the city would be unable to afford food immediately after a loss of household income, and 50 percent would be unable to afford food within three months. Each year, as the school year ends and summer break arrives, families are confronted with the challenge of ensuring their children have enough to eat without regular meals from school breakfast and lunch programs.
The city’s Summer Food Service Program – also known as Summer Meals – can be a real safety net for struggling families. It provides all children up to age 18 with free breakfast and lunch at schools, community-based organizations, parks and pools throughout the city during the summer — with no forms to complete or office visits to apply. It exists to ensure that children who need it have access to food year-round, not just in school.
The Food Bank is working to increase access to the Summer Meals program by recruiting New York City soup kitchens to participate in the program and by reaching out to food assistance programs, community leaders and elected officials to raise awareness and ensure families know about this resource in their neighborhoods. Our citywide network of 1,000 food assistance programs gives the Food Bank rare access to the communities most affected by the recession and the loss of free school meals. Your support makes our work with this network possible. Thank you!
New York State has the third highest number of food insecure children in the US according to new analysis of USDA food insecurity data — behind only California and Texas. Approximately 668,000 children ages 0 to17 are food insecure in New York, meaning that their family has difficulty accessing enough food for all family members to have an active and healthy lifestyle because of a lack of resources.
Although these numbers highlight the gravity of childhood hunger in New York, they do not come close to providing the full picture. Throughout the state, 844,000 children live below poverty ($18,000 for a family of three) and 1.7 million live below 200 percent of the poverty level (approximately $37,000 for a family of three). Research on living costs shows that families need an income of at least 200 percent of poverty to meet basic needs. And in New York City, where living costs are high, families need an income of 250 percent of poverty. Still, poverty among children is expected to get much worse. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that as a result of the recession and rising unemployment, the US child poverty rate could increase 50 percent by next year.
Food insecurity measures are also likely to under-represent the difficulty people experience affording food. Because the data only considers those who are not able to access enough food, people who rely on soup kitchens, food pantries and government benefits such as food stamps to ensure their family has enough to eat may not be counted.
At the national Anti-Hunger Policy Conference in March, I was surprised to find that more advocates attended this year than ever before. With so many organizations facing cutbacks due to the recession, this turnout shows real dedication. And I couldn’t help wonder whether this year’s focus on childhood hunger, coupled with the potential of a new administration, helped to spark interest and inspire action.
Discussing childhood hunger is especially important now, considering the Obama administration’s goal to end child hunger by 2015 and the fact that the child nutrition programs (including school lunch and breakfast, summer meals and WIC) are up for reauthorization. Change can’t come soon enough. The statistics are shocking:
Half of all New York City children live below 200 percent of poverty (research has shown that families need an income of at least 250 percent of poverty — or approximately $46,000 for a family of three — to afford basic necessities in New York City).
More than half (56 percent) of all households with children in New York City reported having difficulty affording needed food in 2008 — 24 percent just since 2007.
One out of every four (25 percent) New York City households with children would be unable to afford food immediately after losing their household income, up 25 percent since 2003.
Children who have inadequate access to nutritious food are 90 percent more likely to have fair/poor health than excellent/good health and are more likely to have low achievement in school. This in turn jeopardizes their long-term prospects since children starting out at a disadvantage are very likely to remain at a disadvantage.
As the recession deepens, unemployment rises and costs continue to increase, the Food Bank’s research department is keeping track of how this crisis is impacting New Yorkers — and the results are devastating.
Our most recent report, NYC Hunger Experience 2008 Update: Food Poverty Soars as Recession Hits Home, shows that the number of city residents experiencing difficulty affording needed food is rising rapidly, doubling from approximately two million in 2003 to approximately four million in 2008 — representing almost half of all city residents. In the past year alone, the number jumped by almost one million — the highest increase in the history of the poll.
One of the most alarming findings in the new report is that 3.5 million city residents are concerned about needing food assistance during the next year, including 2.1 million who have never accessed food assistance before. As of 2007, 1.3 million city residents were already relying on soup kitchens and food pantries, and our network of emergency food programs was struggling to meet demand — more than half of the programs frequently ran out of food and had to turn participants away (NYC Hunger Safety Net 2007: A Food Poverty Focus). Since March 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown that the number of unemployed increased by 5.3 million nationwide to an unadjusted unemployment rate of 9 percent, with half of the increase occuring in the last four months alone. An additional influx of residents in need of emergency food over the next year would be crushing.
These findings are particularly worrisome as city residents’ concerns about needing food assistance are more and more likely to be realized as the unemployment rate continues to rise. Results show that 3.7 million people would not be able to afford food within three months of losing household income (1.9 million would be immediately unable to afford food). Unfortunately, things are likely to get worse before they get better — economists anticipate that the unemployment rate will reach approximately 10 percent by the end of 2009, driving more families into economic hardship and to food assistance programs.
These findings suggest that the response to the economic crisis in the last year, including the federal stimulus package (the 
of three) and 1.7 million live below 200 percent of the poverty level (approximately $37,000 for a family of three). 
Our most recent report, 
