Recently released data shows the child poverty rate in Syracuse is 45.6 percent, the worst in the country among cities with at least 100,000 people.
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said the census estimates, which cover the period from 2019-2023, are something city leaders cannot accept.
“These conditions didn’t happen overnight,” Walsh said. “We have families living in generational poverty, so the seeds that we’re planting and the investments that we’re making are intended to certainly address the conditions today, but will also assist us in the addressing the conditions of tomorrow and for years to come.”
Walsh said for the past seven years, his administration has worked to change the trajectory of child poverty in the community, and the data did show a decrease of 0.7 percent. But he said that’s not enough.
Syracuse Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens said the city needs to focus on getting community members prepared for better paying jobs and connecting with employers in the community. She said “poverty” is a financial definition, but it operates like a virus.
“And that virus manifests itself in housing stability,” Owens said. “It manifests itself in the inability of people to feed their families. It manifests itself in ways that we see all over this community, but the root of it is financial, so we are going to continue to strive to address that.”
One way city officials hope to create more financial stability is through programs like Syracuse Build, which helps train people, so they have the skillsets to launch careers.
