On March 24, 2021, FPWA and the Center for Women’s Welfare at the University of Washington released a report entitled, “The Self-Sufficiency Standard for New York 2021.” The report outlines what working-age families of various sizes and compositions need to make ends meet without public or private assistance in each county in New York.

This report is a much needed and anticipated update of ten-year-old data that can be used by New York State, local policymakers, and legislators to calculate how much income is needed for genuine economic security.

The Standard offers a far more comprehensive measure of basic needs than the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), used by the federal government since the 1960s. The FPL, only updated for inflation every year, intentionally excludes basic expenses from its calculation that the Standard takes into account, such as housing, transportation, child care and other essential family expenses.

Find out more by reading our press release > 

You can read and download the report here >