A new study finds that poor children who grew up in some cities and towns have sharply better odds of escaping poverty than similar poor children elsewhere.
That according to the New York Times, which says the study by a pair of Harvard economists also shows that Monroe County does poorly in comparison to other parts of Western New York when it comes to upward mobility.
The numbers don't particularly shock Jennifer Leonard, the president and CEO of the Community Foundation in Rochester, who notes that one of the issues this area faces is that there is not enough affordable housing spread out around the county.
"The overwhelming impact of this on Monroe County is clear, but it's also something we can address by changing the systems for affordable housing and providing greater choice for poor families."
Leonard says too many of the county's poorest children live in concentrated areas of poverty where they don't have enough access to a good education, jobs and other factors. She also says that part of the problem stems from structural racism which helped define where people live since the 1950s and 60s.
"When we look at what a poor child can actually accomplish, it's hard to access good education, it's hard to access a job, and we can see that it's extremely hard to access affordable housing."
Leonard is hoping that the newly formed Rochester anti-poverty task force can help address this issue.
