New York state senator wrong on how many cities in New York rank high on child poverty

New York state Sen. Jessica Ramos, D-East Elmhurst, has championed cutting child poverty. She co-sponsored the Child Poverty Reduction Act, which creates a task force and initiatives for cutting the state’s child poverty by half in 2032.

Nevertheless, solving the problem will require more work, she said in a Feb. 6 X post by Ramos’ deputy chief of staff, Astrid M. Aune. Ramos said, "Half of the cities with the highest rates of child poverty are in" New York state.

However, Census Bureau data shows this is incorrect.

The Census Bureau measures poverty by comparing a household’s annual income with the federal poverty threshold, which varies based on family size. Child poverty refers to people younger than 18 belonging to a household that qualifies as being in poverty. 

The bureau last released data on poverty covering 2022. Looking at the child poverty rate for the 640 U.S. cities with at least 50,000 population that year, three New York state jurisdictions appeared in the top 50 for child poverty rate. They were Albany fifth (with a 48.2% child poverty rate); Rochester 12th (with a 40.9% rate); and Syracuse 23rd (with a 37.1% rate). 

That’s only 6% of the cities with the highest child poverty rates, or well below the half Ramos said. 

Only one other New York state city made the top 100; Buffalo ranked 65th with a 30.4% child poverty rate. The other ranked cities were out of the top 100 — Mount Vernon ranked 129th (with 24.7%), New York City ranked 132nd (with 24.5%), Schenectady ranked 215th (with 19.6%), Yonkers ranked 243rd (with 18.3%) and Cheektowaga ranked 245th (with 18.2%). 

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The Census Bureau also publishes a longer list of jurisdictions below that population threshold. Of these 29,809 cities and villages, 434, or about 3%, were in the list’s top half. 

Ramos’ office referred PolitiFact New York to the 2023 progress report of the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council, a body created by the Child Poverty Reduction Act, which Gov. Kathy Hochul signed in 2021. 

The council’s report cites 2019 data showing that Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse were among the 10 U.S. cities with the highest child poverty rates.

That’s slightly off — those three cities ranked in the top 15 in 2019, according to the Census Bureau — but that’s not near half.

Ramos said, "Half of the cities with the highest rates of child poverty are in" New York state.

Looking at cities with more than 50,000 residents in 2022, three New York state jurisdictions made the list of 50 cities with the highest child poverty rates. In 2019, four New York state cities made that list. 

In neither year did cities in New York account for anything close to half of the jurisdictions with the highest child poverty rates. The same held true for a longer list of jurisdictions with smaller populations in 2022. 

We rate the statement False.