What New Yorkers Are Really Saying About Affordability

With New York City’s mayoral race heating up (With the infamous or famous depending on your political stance, Zohran Mamdani leading), a new survey from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) offers a closer look at what everyday families are struggling with — and the picture isn’t pretty.

The Communities Speak project collected data from neighborhoods across all five boroughs, and the findings show that the city’s affordability crisis isn’t just housing anymore — childcare and food security are front and center too. The survey pulls together responses from multiple years between 2021 and 2025, tracking how things have changed over time and highlighting patterns that matter for policy makers and voters alike.

What the Data Says

Childcare Costs Are Crushing Families

Nearly 30 percent of families with young kids in spring 2025 said they still can’t afford childcare — even after a slight dip from 2024. That’s striking considering how important childcare is to parents’ ability to work and plan for the future.

Friends and Family Are Filling the Gaps

Most families lean on personal networks for childcare help — over half rely on family or friends, compared with only about 20 percent using government assistance.

Neighborhood Differences Matter

Where you live really changes your experience. In parts of Queens like Ridgewood, nearly half of families said childcare is unaffordable. In contrast, wealthier areas like Greenwich Village had much lower rates of struggle.

Food and Housing Hardship Hits Some Groups Harder

The survey found big disparities by race and language. Hispanic and Black families with young children experience food insecurity at significantly higher rates than White families, and non-English-speaking households reported severe housing instability at about twice the rate of English-speaking ones

Why It Matters Now

This report lands right in the middle of the mayoral campaign, where affordability is a central issue. But the survey goes beyond talking points — it shows how deep and interconnected the problems are. It also underlines how federal pandemic relief helped for a time, and how its pullback revealed long-standing gaps in city support.

For voters and local leaders, that matters. When families are stretched by housing costs, childcare bills, and food insecurity all at once, it shapes decisions about jobs, neighborhoods, even whether to stay in the city at all. Understanding those realities can help shape practical policies rather than surface-level fixes.

Columbia SIPA