New Census data from the past five years provides more proof of Rochester's extreme poverty. And it suggests why many who live in our area don't realize how bad it is.
"People who are poor, the conditions of poverty are not being witnessed by and experienced by people throughout the community. It's only in a relatively small area," said Ed Doherty, who analyzed the data for the Rochester Area Community Foundation and ACT Rochester.
Other data also confirms Rochester's place at or near the top of the wrong lists among cities our size. Rochester has the highest childhood poverty rate of any city its size in the country. "In fact, we're the only city our size with more than half of our children living in poverty. That was certainly the most startling fact."
Doherty said the data shows Rochester has the highest percentage of people who live in what's described as "deep" poverty, at below half the federal poverty level.
The new data shows that overall, poverty is on the increase in Rochester to 32.9 percent. Childhood poverty was at 50.1 percent, the highest when compared to 18 other similarly sized cities.
"Well, we are the second poorest when you look at total poverty of all residents,” said Doherty, “'cause Hartford's slightly higher than Rochester. But when you look at childhood poverty only, then we are the highest."
Foundation president Jennifer Leonard says the new report provides an opportunity to take a deeper look at the realities of poverty in the city of Rochester.
Doherty says in order to make changes, Rochester needs to do a lot more work. "Well, first of all, talking with poor people and learning a bit more about what their lives are like, the realities are that they're facing, and talking with people who work with poor, so there's a lot that we can do beyond data."
ACT Rochester president Ann Johnson says going beyond the data to seek out poor people's perspectives would provide a better grasp of the complex causes and effects of poverty.
Doherty hopes the new data can help Rochester focus on what areas to target. "It's probably fair to say that most of the findings of this report - the result that we are more concentrated in the way our poor are forced the live in a very small area as compared to most other metropolitan areas."
As an example, he says the data shows for many new immigrants to Rochester, while they live in poverty, but it's not as bad as other cities our size.
Doherty says reports last year and this year continue to show Rochester is unique in its concentration of poverty.
The new report is not about causes or solutions, but an attempt to be very data-driven in understanding where we are. The data can drive the solutions.
