Citizens’ Committee for Children Releases Infographic on Challenges Faced by New York City’s Children

Released October 25, 2012

Citizens’ Committee for Children (CCC) today released an infographic illustrating statistics regarding New York City’s children and highlighting how investments in services to support children and families are crucial to the well-being of New York City’s communities. With announcements of additional reductions to New York City’s budget anticipated in the coming weeks, CCC urges decision-makers to use caution when considering cuts to services that provide long-term investments in the well-being of children.

“Every dollar spent on primary prevention services for children, such as pre-natal care, early care and education, child abuse prevention, and after-school programs, produces significant savings of public dollars,” said CCC Executive Director Jennifer March-Joly. “With half a million children living in poverty in New York City, we must push back against the impulse to cut our resources and do less. In today’s economic climate, we have a responsibility to look at critical investments for the future of our city.”

The infographic provides striking statistics in a visual format showing how New York City is faring in providing for the needs of its youngest and most vulnerable residents:

• 1 in 3 children in New York City lives in poverty
• 1 in 12 babies is born underweight
• 1 in 2 third graders reads below grade level
• 1 in 50 children in New York City has slept in a shelter this year
• 1 in 20 New York City children is reported neglected or abused

In addition, the infographic outlines how investments in primary prevention services produce significant long-term savings for New York City:

• For every dollar invested in pre-natal care, $3 are saved in the cost of care for low weight babies
• For every dollar invested in pre-kindergarten services, $17 are returned in earnings and savings
• For every dollar invested in child abuse prevention, $4 are saved in hospital costs
• For every dollar invested in after-school programs, $3 are saved by taxpayers

To view the infographic go to: https://www.cccnewyork.org/data-and-reports/publications/2012-infographic-keeping-track-of-new-york-citys-children/.

Additional data on the well-being of New York City’s children will be available in CCC’s upcoming edition of Keeping Track of New York City’s Children, to be released in early 2013. Keeping Track is the most comprehensive centralized database tracking New York City’s children and includes hundreds of indicators that create a picture of how children, from infancy to adolescence, are faring both city wide and in each of the city’s 59 community districts. For more information, visit CCC’s web site at www.cccnewyork.org