State Profile of New York: Data from the 2002 National Survey of America's Families

Assessingthe NewFederalismAn Urban InstituteProgram to Assess Changing Social PoliciesState ProfilesState Profileof New York:Data from the 2002National Survey ofAmerica’s FamiliesState Profileof New York:Data from the 2002National Survey ofAmerica’s Families State Profile of New York: Data from the 2002 National Survey of America’s Families State Profile Prepared by: Adam Safir Harold Leibovitz June 2004 ASSESSING THE NEW FEDERALISM Assessing the New Federalism is a multiyear Urban Institute project designed to analyze the devolution of responsibility for social programs from the federal government to the states. It focuses primarily on health care, income security, social services, child care, and child welfare. Researchers monitor program changes, changes in the well-being of families, and fiscal trends. The project provides timely, nonpartisan information to inform public debate and to help state and local stakeholders carry out their new responsibilities more effectively. Key components of the project include a household survey, studies of policies in 13 states, and a database of welfare rules covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Publications and data are available free of charge on the Urban Institute’s web site at http://www.urban.org. This report is funded by the United Hospital Fund. The Assessing the New Federalism project operates under grants from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Ford Foundation. The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, its funders, or other authors in the series. Publisher: The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 Copyright © 2004 Permission is granted for reproduction of this document with attribution to the Urban Institute. INTRODUCTION AND LIST OF TABLES Introduction The State Profile of New York presents a detailed series of tables on economic security, child well-being, child care, and health care. The tables compare New York with the nation as a whole on all of these measures. The tables are based on the 2002 National Survey of America’s Families. Each table follows a similar format. The top (or left) panel presents data for New York while the bottom (or right) panel presents data for the nation as a whole. In most tables, the data presented are the number of people who fall into the stated category, the percent of people in that category, and the standard error of the percent. Definitions and notes for all tables appear after Table 41. Estimates from the NSAF, like those from all surveys, are subject to various types of error. Sampling error is the most common limitation reported in survey results. Evaluating statistical precision based solely upon sampling error may be misleading. Measurement error, error due to undercoverage, and non-response bias may introduce equally large sources of error. National Survey of America’s Families The National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF) is one of only a few surveys to provide reliable estimates on measures of child and family well-being for selected states as well as for the nation as a whole. The survey oversamples low-income families (those with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold). The large low-income sample also generates large samples of racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and people participating in government programs. The Urban Institute’s Assessing the New Federalism project fielded NSAF in 1997, 1999, and 2002. For each round, the survey provided information on over 100,000 non-elderly persons (about 70,000 non-elderly adults and 35,000 children). Along with a large, nationally-representative sample for the nation, NSAF has large, state-representative samples for 13 states (Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin). Together, these states are home to more than half the nation’s population. They also represent a broad range of fiscal capacity, political traditions, and approaches to government programs. NSAF Topics The NSAF examines a broad range of issues related to family well-being. • Economic security includes income, employment, earnings, participation in education and training programs, participation in welfare programs, child support