The United States Census Bureau has released the most recent data available from the American Community Survey (ACS). This release is especially remarkable because the 2019 data serve as the last comprehensive snapshot of American life before the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession in 2020. Today’s data make clear that hundreds of thousands of children and their families in New York City faced extreme economic hardship before the pandemic and this hardship is exacerbated now. Further, these data reflect the last year of results from sampling methods based on the 2010 decennial census count. Future ACS data releases will be based on the 2020 decennial census, which was not only delayed by the pandemic but also disrupted by underfunding and the federal administration’s ongoing efforts to undercount the population, including a failed attempt to add a question on citizenship status. These disruptions risk an undercount of the population, which harms children and families by reducing federal revenue allocations to states and localities and federal spending on vital nutrition, housing, education, and health programs guided by census data.

Today, CCC is releasing its preliminary analysis of the new data and its implications for the city’s children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis focuses on:

• Persistent Poverty Put Children and Families At-risk Before and During the Pandemic
• Lack of Health Care Coverage When New Yorkers Need It The Most
• Ensuring Stable Employment and Housing Remain Top Priority for Lawmakers to Address
• Federal, State and Local Policy Recommendations to Address Child and Family Poverty

Download the analysis here.