Quinn will outline plans to strengthen the city\u2019s middle class and ideas to help those trying to access it<\/p>\n
New York, NY \u2013 Today, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn will release a New York City Council study titled, \u201cThe Middle Class Squeeze, a Report on the State of the City\u2019s Middle Class.\u201d The study shows the middle class as a percentage of the city is shrinking and details the striking economic challenges facing New York City\u2019s middle class families. Key report findings include:<\/p>\n
\u2022 New York City median middle class incomes have been declining while housing costs for middle class New Yorkers are rising.
\n\u2022 Since 2001, median rents for middle class households rose by 6.2%, the price of a condominium apartment increased by 47%.
\n\u2022 Manhattan and Brooklyn are ranked first and second with the most expensive housing costs in America. Queens is ranked 7th in housing costs out of 300 U.S. metropolitan areas.
\n\u2022 New York City\u2019s middle class unemployment rate is 6.2%, three times higher than it was in 2008 and 75% higher than in 1989.
\n\u2022 In 1989, more than half of the city\u2019s working age high school graduates were in the middle class. Today only a third are in the middle class.<\/p>\n
Today, in her State of the City Address, Speaker Quinn will outline significant plans to strengthen the city\u2019s middle class and ideas to help those trying to access it.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the past eight years, the Council has worked to improve the lives of middle class New Yorkers,\u201d said Speaker Quinn. \u201cWe\u2019ve focused on making neighborhoods safer, improving schools, and supporting small businesses. Clearly the middle class wants to be here, but it\u2019s getting harder to stay. This report demonstrates the need to address long-term housing costs, develop opportunities for middle class workers and to help create a New York City that middle class families continue to seek out as a place to call home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Middle Class Squeeze\u201d is an update to a City Council report issued in December of 1997 entitled \u201cHollow in the Middle, the Rise and Fall of New York City\u2019s Middle Class.\u201d Both today\u2019s report and the 1997 study found:<\/p>\n
\u2022 The middle class is shrinking as a percentage of the city\u2019s working age population.
\n\u2022 Higher education is the best route to access to the middle class; it is getting more difficult for high school educated workers to enter the middle class.<\/p>\n
The Director of the Center for Urban Research at CUNY’s Graduate Center, John Mollenkopf said, \u201cThis superb sequel to the 1997 City Council report \u2018Hollow in the Middle\u2019 unpacks what has happened in the subsequent period and why. The relatively well-paid college graduate population has been rising; however, this has not been enough to offset the squeezes on the middle class and the negative effect of the last sharp down turn and the slow recovery. This report will help policy makers address the needs of the city\u2019s middle class and keep a healthier balance in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaker Quinn’s release of this report could not be more timely. This report identifies the most serious economic challenges that will face New York City’s next mayor. Most significantly, the middle class share of the city’s working age population is shrinking. New York City’s future will depend on leaders who understand how to keep New York City’s middle class population growing while developing the economic and social policies that move our low-income population into the middle class,\u201d said Ester R. Fuchs, Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science, Columbia University.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Middle Class Squeeze, a Report on the State of the City\u2019s Middle Class\u201d is an analysis conducted by the New York City Council Finance Division. The report is based primarily on data obtained from the Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement to the Community Population Survey (CPS). The survey and supplement are maintained through the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n
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Quinn will outline plans to strengthen the city\u2019s middle class and ideas to help those trying to access it<\/p>\n
New York, NY \u2013 Today, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn will release a New York City Council study titled, \u201cThe Middle Class Squeeze, a Report on the State of the City\u2019s Middle Class.\u201d The study shows the middle class as a percentage of the city is shrinking and details the striking economic challenges facing New York City\u2019s middle class families.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n