NYC Food Pantry (Image: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)
May 14, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
A new survey has revealed that low-income families in Queens are facing economic hardship due to the COVID-19 shutdown.
Public Health Solutions, a nonprofit that conducted the survey between April 17 and April 29, found that the majority of low-income households in Queens are worried about running out of food and not having enough money to pay for essential items within a month.
The survey, based on the results of 1,000 New York City residents, defines low-income households as those that make less than $50,000 per year.
The bleak outlook comes as many businesses remain closed and thousands of people are out of work.
A large portion of respondents from Queens, 43 percent, reported that a household member in the borough had either lost their job or had seen a significant reduction in pay since March 1.
The knock-on effect of lost wages revealed that 67 percent of low-income earners in the World’s Borough are worried about running out of cash within a month.
Similarly, 63 percent of low-income respondents in Queens said that they are concerned about having enough food for themselves and their families within the same time period.
While more than half of Queens low-income respondents are worried about food security, only a small percentage – 15 percent – of Queens residents were familiar with how the government’s food assistance program SNAP works, compared to 28 percent of respondents from the Bronx.
The education gap regarding food stamps suggests that more residents would likely access the program if they were made aware of it.
For example, only 8 percent of respondents in Queens had applied for or utilized SNAP in the last month, compared with 21 percent of people in the Bronx, 18 percent in Brooklyn and 20 percent in Manhattan.
Citywide, the data showed that the vast majority of low-income families of color – 82 percent of blacks and 92 percent of Hispanics – were worried about running out of cash in the next month.
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18 Comments
Cuomos response killed the elderly and destroyed jobs
Domestic violence on the rise as is suicides and crime
But Andrew has a nice hair cut
Took too long to clean subways
totally worth it
Don’t have kids if you can’t afford to care for them.
Hashtagger- Your post is is a childish view. Cuomo has better things to do than tell you to stay home snowflake
Many Queens residents are already receiving public assistance such as food, shelter and healthcare benefits at low or no cost. Those that do not can apply to see if they qualify. Obviously, people are going to say they worry about not having enough during these times in the hopes of getting more. Who around here is going to say they are doing just fine? Same goes for working people. Whether you are on public assistance or making 100,000 a year you are going to worry about the future and putting food on the table.
Many of the low income earners who are suffering in Queens are single minority woman with children. So much fear, anxiety and hunger in our community. Its all very sad.
Hashtagger as Orwell and Marissa-Stereo types and incomplete statistics are also known as propaganda. Math lesson for you. A contagion that only infects a small segment of society, a 0.003 mortality rate is manageable. When you have a contagion that infects exponentially more than that small segment of society that 0.003 becomes exponentially higher as well and when infections hit all at once crippling the healthcare network like we just witnessed. You obviously, purposely left that out or just forgot it already. For somebody who supports a draft dodging coward who has a career criminals resume and who over applies her orange makeup, we’re not expecting much.
Andrew Cuomo wants your votes but does not care about you
Many businesses are minority owned and they may never reopen
Let adults make their own risk assessment and go back to work
Don’t forget about the nursing homes !
It’s all about power for Andrew
and you want people to break quarantine so that…a barber can open up? By making the crisis last longer, it will help businesses?
Not dealing with a very stable genius are we?
I agree with you though, we’re seeing the worst unemployment EVER under Trump.
Everyday thousands in Queens go to bed hungry.
We all are stressed. And the nypd is not helping by targeting minorities and poor people.
We need help. No have money for food and rent. Please send the money. We must support our family in other country too and send money.
See Cuomo’s ego makes him blind to the black, brown and minority population most effected by Covid are also most negatively effected by the soft martial law. NYS/C should open up now. Its political.
I make 41k never consider myself as low income but according to this less than 50k is .I am a white female born in Queens went to school & graduated
I live within my means and I get by . I dont go out and splurge. I quit smoking 10 yrs ago . I like to get more things that I want / need but
I have a roof over my head and thats important.
There’s a small community church of the corner of 43rd Ave and 46th St that opened a food bank. The line yesterday was halfway down 46th St. I think they open at 5:00. Please consider donating if you can. There’s a sign of the door for info if you want to write a check.
You might go broke, become homeless and hungry with no hope for the future but hey, at least you won’t catch something with a .003 mortality rate.
Agreed, a global pandemic is nothing to worry about.
You definitely don’t wear a mask when you go outside right? Otherwise your hypocritical words mean nothing…
Maybe they should stop having so many kids that they can’t afford and save for an emergency.