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Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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The Poverty Line
Quote:
N.Y. tripping over
poverty line - study
BY JOSE MARTINEZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The federal government's measuring stick on poverty is way out of whack in New York, according to a report released yesterday.
The national poverty line for a family of three is $15,670 a year, which is barely enough to make rent in the city, according to the "2004 Self Sufficiency Standards for the City of New York."
The report, put out by the United Way of New York City and the Women's Center for Education and Career Advancement, said a single New Yorker with two kids needs nearly $50,000 to get by. And that would cover only such basics as food, housing and health care.
"None of the things that many of us take for granted on a daily basis are included," said the director of the Women's Center, Merble Reagon, citing cell phones, movie tickets and gifts.
The report provides a borough-by-borough breakdown of how much money families and individuals need to make ends meet.
A Bronx family of three needs at least $49,874, while it takes $77,957 in wealthier areas of Manhattan.
"We would love to make $50,000," said Jaritza Martinez, a Bronx mom whose family takes in $36,000 annually. "We barely have enough for rent, supplies for the house and that's about it."
The report paints a bleaker picture than four years ago, when a parent with two kids could get by on $43,237. But housing costs have gone up between 19% and 40%, according to the report.
"What you see is a picture of people being squeezed by high housing costs and low wages," said James Parrott, deputy director of the Fiscal Policy Institute.
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One of the things that fascinates me is looking at how people are dealing with expenditures. I don't understand how a family of 4 goes to the ball park without spending over $150 per game between tickets, food, and souveniers.
What does it take to run a household? You've got rent, electricty, food, etc. But what about disposable luxury income things like movie rentals, video games, cellphones, pagers, etc. I see plenty of poor people with food stamps having plenty flashy cellphones...upon visiting their house they have TV, VCR... a far cry from the long ago NYC tenemants of 10-12 people living in a small room with little or no belongings.
I know for sure that even with roommates living off of $15,670 is not going to cut it living in NYC.
If $15,670 as the poverty line in the US... and it supposed to be "A Bronx family of three needs at least $49,874, while it takes $77,957 in wealthier areas of Manhattan." what does it take in your part of the world?
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