Report: Bronx Investment Returns Little for Borough’s Poor
A report focusing on the Northwest Bronx has found that as investment in the borough has increased in recent years, the influx of money has had little effect on the area’s poorer residents.
Released today by the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition and the Urban Justice Center, the report “Boom for Whom? How the Resurgence of the Bronx Is Leaving Residents Behind,” found that the area’s residents are stymied in a “a cycle of dead-end, part-time, and low-wage work.”
According to the study, which was based on surveys of 351 residents and Census data, 32% of surveyed adults are currently unemployed. Of those adults who are working and have a high school degree or lower, 55% are making a living wage.
The report also notes that what jobs do exist are mainly in retail, health care, and food services – industries that consist primarily of minimum wage jobs.
It recommends that Bronx neighborhoods undergoing redevelopment negotiate community benefits agreements with developers to create more affordable housing and higher-paying jobs. It also states that the city should build more high schools and create more workforce development programs.
The survey did not employ randomized sampling – for example, it relied heavily on data collected from Bronx high school students because its authors wanted to highlight the trouble teenagers face in finding work.
And while the racial demographics of those surveyed is close to that of census data, there are differences. Census data shows that 13% of the Northwest Bronx is white, but in the report, 4% of those surveyed were white.
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