Equity in the Creative and Innovative Economy
The Working Classes’ Struggle to Survive in New York City
All over the US the lure of cities with all its offerings of high paying jobs and cultural diversity have caused a “back-to-the-city” movement, where megacities along the coast are becoming places of innovation and creativity, attracting the young, educated and privileged class. But despite this growth, the wealth gap between the richest and poorest households in the US is at the highest level in 50 years. And the wealth disparities are even more significant in metro cities across the nation, particularly in New York City. It has the most number of millionaires in the entire world, with the top 1% having average annual earnings of $2.2 million. Yet certain groups of people such as immigrants and people of color are still disproportionately affected by poverty, wealth disparities, and inequity.
Our 3 part visual data essay will attempt to uncover how certain communities are more affected by the growing urban inequalities occurring in New York City, particularly communities around rapidly growing tech and innovation hubs. At the same time, we wanted to examine whether these hubs can be opportunities to address economic disparities and become a model for equitable job creation and increasing inclusion in the creative and innovation sector.
City of Immigrants
New York City prides itself on being the most diverse city in the world and as the “creative” capital of the country. The city depends on creativity to attract tourism and talent and immigrants have been an integral part of shaping the social fabric of the city’s culture and creativity, and also as the drivers of the economy.
Immigrants make up 40% of NYC’s total population. Up to 60–75% of the population is foreign-born and many of them concentrated in large pockets of the Bronx, Queens (Flushing) and some of Brooklyn (Sunset Park).
The immigrant population continues to grow, particularly in Sunset Park that is predominately made up of foreign-born residents, with a majority of Chinese and Latinx immigrants.
Working-class hanging on by a thread
Historically, immigrants in Sunset Park relied on jobs in the manufacturing and industrial sector, which was an economic pathway that created sustainable and viable working-class jobs.
We first needed to identify the working class” — who and how is an individual considered in this class? Most commonly, they are identified as working adults who are engaged in manual intensive labor and typically manufacturing or industrial occupations that have limited education, typically lacking a college degree. And that the working class is identified as being in between the middle and lower classes. We then decided to look at the income levels in Sunset Park then comparing it to the City-wide median income level.
The median income level in New York City is $50,711, and many households in Sunset Park are either just under or within the bracket.
But by only looking at the race breakdown and income levels in Sunset Park doesn’t really show us if the tracts are predominantly working class. So in the next post, we wanted to go further and look into the other types of indicators such as the types of occupations the population in each tract occupies and as well as the education levels. Not only do we want to know if the “working class” still exists today in New York City but also what is the social and economic mobility and status of this class of people.
