NYC in Context

Student Homelessness | Report by Advocates for Children of New York

  • 1 in every 8 children enrolled in the NYC public schools experienced homelessness during the 2023–24 school year. That’s more than 146,000 New York City students.

  • Of these students, 54% were “doubled-up,” or temporarily sharing the housing of others because of a loss of housing or economic hardship, and 41% (more than 60,000 students) spent time in City shelters.

  • Students living in shelter dropped out of high school at triple the rate of their permanently housed peers.

Food Assistance - Food Pantry | Report by Robin Hood

  • One in three New Yorkers have used a food pantry over a three-year period following the pandemic; year-over-year pantry use remains twice as high compared to before the pandemic.

  • 44% of families with children in New York City experienced food hardship in 2023.

  • Year-over-year pantry use remains twice as high compared to before the pandemic.

  • Nearly three out of four pantry users (72%) reported experiencing financial shocks, such as job loss, income decrease, or unexpected expenses.

Homelessness in NYC | Report by Bowery Mission

  • 1 in 5 low-income New Yorkers report living paycheck-to-paycheck.

  • Over 130,000 people sleep in public shelters each night and over 4,100 people live unsheltered in the subways or on our streets.

  • NYC’s poverty rate (23%) is nearly double the national average (12%).

NYC Mental Health - Report by New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

  • Among the six million adults in New York City, nearly one in four experience a mental health disorder in a given year.

  • A higher percentage of parents and caregivers of children age 3 to 13 reported having concerns about their child’s development in 2021 (43%) than in 2019 (39%).

  • In a 2023 survey of NYC teens, 48% were identified as having minimal depressive symptoms, 27% as having mild symptoms, 14% as having moderate symptoms, and 11% as having severe symptoms. Boys were more likely to report minimal depressive symptoms (56%) compared with girls (42%).

  • Young adults (age 18 to 24) experienced poorer mental health outcomes compared with older adults. They had higher levels of social isolation, SPD, unmet mental health need and psychiatric hospitalization.