Startling statistics released last week by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli show that nearly 14 percent of all New York State residents live in poverty. That’s higher than the national average, and higher than it was prior to the start of the pandemic.

Poverty rates in counties ranged from 5.7 percent in Nassau and Putnam to 24.4 percent in the Bronx. Locally, Orange County, with a poverty rate at 10.8 percent, fared slightly better than Ulster and Sullivan, where 12.7 percent of the residents are living in poverty. Dutchess, meanwhile, registered 8.3 percent of residents living in poverty.

The report, titled “New Yorkers in Need,” also showed that poverty rates were much higher for children than for adults, including seniors. In 2021, the percent of population under 18 and below the poverty level in New York was 18.5%, 4.6 percentage points higher than for the overall population. Child poverty has declined from roughly 21% in 2010. However, poverty rates increased for seniors while decreasing for all others between 2010 and 2021. It also showed that poverty rates declined substantially as educational levels increased.
Not surprisingly, the report looks to the federal government to play the largest role in the fight against poverty, in part by assessing “current programs for potential improvements including the adequacy of benefit amounts and flexibility in local administration.” While that may be sound advice, we cannot depend entirely on the federal government to eradicate poverty. Local governments play a role as well, by working to attract jobs and facilitating a quality of life that employers will find desirable.

The community as a whole also play a role. Charitable contributions are always highest around the holiday season and the end of the year, when we are all moved by the spirit of the season to be a little more generous and when many businesses hire extra help for the holidays. But we can’t forget the cold days and nights of January and February.