ROCHESTER — Child poverty continues to rise in Rochester, as the city remains the fifth-poorest among the top 75 metropolitan areas in the country.
The city’s overall poverty rate rose slightly from 32.9 percent to 33.8 percent, but the child poverty rate rose from 50.1 percent to 52.5 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
The new statistics reflect similar findings released in a January 2015 report by ACT Rochester and the Rochester Area Community Foundation, which compared the city’s poverty rate to similar-sized cities across the country and the top 75 metro areas. That report used the data from the census’ five-year American Community Survey for 2009 to 2013. The five-year survey is considered the most reliable and precise because it is based on a larger sample, according to foundation officials.
The report also confirms the importance of the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative, which was convened by the United Way of Rochester earlier this year and which provides a benchmark to measure progress, said the initiative’s director, Leonard Brock. The initiative includes work groups that will focus on health and nutrition, housing, the judicial system, safe neighborhoods, jobs and workforce development, and education.
For more details and earlier poverty reports, visit www.racf.org/Reports or www.ACTRochester.org/Poverty.
