Not Quite So Wonderful

New York City's share of poor people appears to have plateaued since the recession, at 21.4 per cent, with more people working in 2012 than the year before, but at lower wages, according to a new city study. 'As in 2011, 46 per cent, or nearly half of New Yorkers, were making less than 150 per cent of the poverty threshold, a figure that describes people who are struggling to get by. Even with fewer people unemployed, the poverty rate for working-age adults working full time reached 8 per cent, by the city's measure. Fully 17 per cent of families with a full-time worker lived in poverty, and even among families with two full-time workers, the rate was 5.2 per cent.' (New York Times, 30 April) So while vocalists may sing about "What a wonderful town" New York is, the reality like every other town in the capitalist world is one of poverty for many. RD