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Poverty Tracker Spotlight on COVID-19: Nearly half of all New York City workers lost employment income from the pandemic

During the early months of the pandemic, New York City's unemployment rate rose to 20 percent as millions of workers were laid off or had their hours or paychecks cut. A new report from the Poverty Tracker explores how COVID-19 impacted employment and earnings for New Yorkers during the first few months of the outbreak. This report leverages the Poverty Tracker's longitudinal data to understand how those who were hit hardest by the economic fallout associated with COVID-19 were faring in the year prior.

The report finds that like past crises, COVID-19 has exacerbated existing economic and racial inequities. New data shows that nearly half of all New York City workers, and more than half of low-wage workers and Black and Hispanic workers, lost employment income during the height of the outbreak.

The report also finds that those who lost employment income because of COVID-19 were already significantly more likely to face poverty and material hardship before the outbreak than those who were able to work remotely and did not lose employment income. Nearly 70 percent of Black and Hispanic New Yorkers who lost employment income worried that they would run out of food before the end of the month because they did not have money to buy more compared to 33 percent of white New Yorkers who lost employment income.  

In addition, the report looks at the experiences of essential workers who remained on-site, risking virus exposure, as they kept New York City running. It finds that Black workers have disproportionately continued to work on-site as essential workers during the pandemic, and that essential on-site workers were in more vulnerable financial positions prior to COVID-19 than those who were able to work from home. 

This report underscores the need for recovery policies that go well beyond a return to pre-pandemic status quo and instead target preexisting economic and racial inequities across New York City.

More About the Poverty Tracker 

Launched in 2012 and conducted in partnership with Columbia University, the Robin Hood Poverty Tracker is a groundbreaking study of disadvantage in New York City. Unlike typical surveys of poverty that take an annual snapshot, Poverty Tracker checks in with the same 4,000 households quarter after quarter for several years. This approach provides a dynamic view of poverty over time. 

Spotlight on Hunger:
Food hardship reaches highest levels since the start of the pandemic

Thanksgiving is traditionally a time to gather with family and friends over a shared meal. This Thanksgiving, however, will be starkly different, as New York City continues to grapple with the health and economic con?sequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and millions struggle to feed their families.
 
This fall, food hardship has risen to its highest level since the start of the pandemic. A new report from the Poverty Tracker shows that by September and October, 42% of New York adults reported that they often or sometimes ran out of food or worried they would run out of food before there was money to buy more, compared to 36% in January and February.

Policies like the stimulus checks and Pandemic Unemployment Compensation provided through the CARES Act helped to curb rising hunger rates through the summer, but as these benefits expired, many more New Yorkers reported experiencing food hardship and turned to food pantries for help. In September and October of 2020, 32% of adults reported that they used a food pantry at least once in the 12 months prior, an increase of more than 250% relative to January and February.

Even New Yorkers who receive SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) have had to increase their pantry usage because SNAP could not meet their needs during this crisis. In July and Au?gust of 2020, roughly 60% of SNAP recipients reported using food pantries compared to 27% in January and February.
 
This new report underscores the life-saving role that food pantries have played throughout this crisis, and the need for continued government aid to New Yorkers in need.

More About the Poverty Tracker 

Launched in 2012 and conducted in partnership with Columbia University, the Robin Hood Poverty Tracker is a groundbreaking study of disadvantage in New York City. Unlike typical surveys of poverty that take an annual snapshot, Poverty Tracker checks in with the same 4,000 households quarter after quarter for several years. This approach provides a dynamic view of poverty over time. 

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