The U.S. Census Bureau collects and releases data on a sample of households each year through the American Community Survey, which provides community members, local government, and businesses with information about population demographics, as well as economic and housing conditions at the state, county, and more local levels. Each year, Citizens’ Committee for Children publishes a summary of findings from these year estimates and focuses on welcomed and worrisome trends for children and families citywide and by borough. This year we highlight information about immigrant children and families.

The demographic data are clear: Immigrant families are integral to the social fabric of our city. Three million New York residents were born outside of the United States, including around 130,000 children. And the majority of all children (54%) have at least one foreign-born parent. At least one in every six people in every community in the city was born outside of the US. In nine Brooklyn and Queens communities, approximately half of New Yorkers were foreign-born.

The summary also calls attention to the ways in which immigrant children and families face unique barriers to well-being:

• The poverty rate for native-born families with children mirrors that of all New York families. However, foreign-born naturalized heads of households were far less likely to live in poverty (16.2%) than those who were not citizens (28.6%).
• While foreign born naturalized households are less likely to live in poverty, they have a lower median income (58, 162) than native born households ($67,048). The median income of non-US citizens is even lower ($48,328)
• Nearly 400,000 New Yorkers who are foreign-born are uninsured, despite the fact that New York City continues to experience near universal health insurance coverage for children overall (97.4%).

The data in CCC’s Summary of NYC Children & Families 2017 illustrates the importance of speaking out and taking action against recent federal proposals that would threaten the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of immigrant children and their families.