By Erik Bascome via Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Children on Staten Island’s North Shore are more than twice as likely to be living in poverty than those on the South Shore, as the economic disparity that has long plagued the borough continues to persist, according to a new report.

A biennial report published by the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York (CCC), one of the city’s leading child advocacy organizations, highlighted the significant differences in child poverty rates throughout the borough in recent years.

Poverty status is determined by comparing annual income to a set of dollar values (poverty thresholds) that vary by family size, num­ber of children and the age of the householder, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Researchers analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Surveys (ACS) to identify trends in the socioeconomic conditions for children throughout New York City, finding that certain areas continue to struggle and would benefit from increased investments and policy changes designed to improve outcomes for their youngest residents.

“As a cultural and economic hub, New York City inspires people to achieve their dreams,’’ according to the report. “While opportunity here should be available to all, the city has long grappled with the challenges of income inequality and affordability.”

“This issue has been persistent over the past few decades, underlined by the city’s uneven recovery from the Great Recession in the 2010s,” the report continues. “The complex interplay between recovery and ongoing hardship highlights the importance of addressing income inequality and its impact on an inclusive recovery.”

Across Staten Island, nearly 15,000 children, representing 14.1% of the borough’s total child population, were living in poverty as of the 2022 ACS, the most recent year for which data was available at the time of the report’s publication.

But as has been the case for decades, families living in certain parts of the borough struggle financially at a much higher rate than others.

On the North Shore, roughly 20.5% of children were found to be living in poverty, which was significantly higher than the 12.6% in Mid-Island and 8.7% on the South Shore.

Other metrics analyzed in the report, like parental employment instability and median income for families with children, help explain the longstanding disparity in child poverty rates experienced throughout the borough.

The parental employment instability rate on the North Shore was 31.3%, more than five percentage points higher than the 25.9% rate in Mid-Island and more than double the 13.9% rate on the South Shore.

The higher rate of employment instability, coupled with many North Shore residents having lower-paying jobs, leaves families with less money to invest in their children’s futures, as their primary focus is often paying rent and keeping food on the table.

The median income for families with children on the North Shore was $93,521, which is 20.8% less than the $117,981 in Mid-Island and 31.2% less than the $136,027 on the South Shore, the study found.