Bronx youth already faced an uphill battle economically in The Bronx but now with the coronavirus pandemic financially ravaging the borough things have been made far worse.
And nowhere is that more apparent than in the borough’s 15th congressional district where the impact doesn’t just hurt the teens but also their families that they struggle to support.
With people living in multigenerational housing in The Bronx, everyone that can work and finds it, helps to keep a roof over their heads.
According to a Bloomberg index, Bronx residents between the ages of 18 and 34 living in the 15th Congressional district, which covers the South Bronx and up to Fordham as well as the East Bronx communities of Soundview and Castle Hill, face 16.2% unemployment rate.
49.7% are living with a parent and 32.9% are below the poverty line. Making matters worse, 20.1% do not have a high school degree.
Bloomberg reports:
“Before the coronavirus closed most of the U.S. economy, Ginessi Ortiz was a cashier at a shoe store. Her father made deliveries for a construction company, her brother was employed at a community center and her mother had babysitting jobs.
“Now they’ve all been laid off. For Ortiz, 19, and her 24-year-old brother, it’s a setback for people already in one of the toughest places for young adults to advance: the Bronx.
“New York’s 15th Congressional District, where Ortiz lives with her family, offers the worst economic prospects in the U.S. for residents ages 18 to 34 years old, according to a new index compiled by Bloomberg. By contrast, the district with the second-best prospects is just a few miles away: New York’s 12th, which includes parts of eastern Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.“
This simply highlights what we’ve always known: That New York City is a tale of two cities and opportunities don’t come for everyone the same.
You can read the full article over at Bloomberg.
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