MORE CHILDREN LANGUISHING IN GOTHAM
NEW YORK -- An increasing number of New York City's children are poor,
homeless, sick, doing badly in school and relying on welfare and
mental health services, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The study by the independent Citizens' Committee for Children of New
York also said there were signs of improvements in the lives of the
city's 1.9 million children, including a decrease in violent crime
against young people, better parental care and lower infant mortality.
The rates of early death, however, were still higher than the state
and national averages, according to the report entitled ''Keeping
Track of New York City's Children.'' The report covered statistics for
1994.
New York has more children -- one in four of the city's 7.3 million
people are under 18 years old -- than any other city in the United
States, but in the last three years 2.5 billion dollars have been cut
from programs serving children, the researchers said.
The group's executive director Gail Nayowith said city leaders had
failed to give children's needs consistent priority as they had done
with fighting New York's high rate of violent crime.
According to police statistics the city was safer in 1996 than it has
been in a generation, and for the first time in almost 30 years there
were fewer than 1,000 murders.
''The drop in crime shows that targeted, coordinated government
interventions can produce change,'' Nayowith told reporters in a
telephone news conference. ''Somebody at City Hall has to look at the
big picture and commit to creating a better future for our children.
We have to see an expansion of child care, but child care that is
safe.''
The number of homeless children rose sharply to 9,940 from 6,450
between 1990 and 1994 and many children live in dilapidated or
overcrowded housing, said the report, which is the third in a series
that started in 1994.
Based on city and state agency statistics, the privately funded,
nonprofit group found that 52 percent of the city's children were born
into poverty, an increase of 18 percent since 1990.
The report said children of colour remained the most vulnerable, with
three-quarters of Latino children born into poverty in 1994, compared
to 62 percent of black children, 43 percent of Asian children and 24
percent of white children.
New York City children were much more likely to be admitted the
hospital for preventable illnesses such as pneumonia, dehydration,
lead poisoning or tuberculosis than children in other parts of New
York state, the report said.