I caught this article down at Crain's New York Business and I think it just goes a long way in stating the fact that Asian Americans who need a helping hand can't be overlooked and marginalized in regard to basic needs services - that just like every other race and ethnicity - we sometimes need help - and that contrary to popular belief - we're still not "there" yet:
Nearly one in five Asian-Americans in New York City live below the poverty level, according to a report released Tuesday by the Asian American Federation. At 18.5%, that proportion dwarfs the 10.8% of the city’s non-Hispanic white population living in poverty.I have some more thoughts on this topic - but I'll save them for a later post.
About 41% of the city’s Asian residents were low-income in 2006, according to the report Working but Poor: Asian American Poverty in New York City, which used per-capita income data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2000 Census and 2006 American Community Survey. The percentage of low-income Asians, defined as those making less than twice the poverty level, topped the rate of low-income non-Hispanic whites (24%) and the overall rate of low-income residents (39%).
“These findings counter the widely held perception of Asian Americans doing well financially,” said AAF executive director Cao O. “Many Asians are vulnerable and unprotected, trapped on the low rungs of the economic ladder.”
Check out the full article here.
