A new report by Keeping Track Of New York City’s Children, an advocacy group that compiles data about New York City youth and the problems they face, says that kids who live in the Bronx face the highest risks.
New York City has the largest child population of any city in the country with 1.8 million kids in total. It’s also an incredibly racially diverse population, where 53% of kids are born to a parent from another country and over 60% of kids are black and latino.
But there’s significant inequality along racial lines, as well. Blank and latino kids are also the poorer, on average, than white and Asian kids. Almost 60% of homeless families with children are black, according to Keeping Track:
Keeping Track Of New York City’s Children
The report evaluates “child well-being” by looking at child poverty, infant mortality, teen pregnancy, child abuse and neglect, homelessness and access to health insurance, among other measures. Based on these criteria, Keeping Track identifies the most at-risk neighborhoods:
Black and Latino children, who make up approximately 60% of the child population, suffer disproportionately across nearly all measures of child well-being.
Keeping Track 2015 also shows persistent geographic disparities, suggesting that in the Bronx, in particular, children face multiple barriers to their well-being. All of the communities that rank as highest risk to children are located in the Bronx, with the cumulative risks being greatest in the Hunts Point community. Children in Northern Manhattan, Harlem, and North and Central Brooklyn also face significant and multiple risks to their well-being.
Keeping Track Of New York City’s Children
(Photo: Susam Sermonota)
