‘This is not sustainable’: Families with young kids are fleeing NYC’s high cost of living, and the schools are emptying out

The residents of New York City are experiencing a significant decline in their public school system. Claudia and Jamie Kincaid, from E. L. Konigsburg's classic The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, might be surprised to learn that parents are, in fact, leaving the city with their children. Nearly 60 years after the book's publication, families with young kids are fleeing New York City, seeking better opportunities and more affordable living conditions outside the city limits.

According to City Comptroller Mark Levine, the enrollment in the city's public schools has plummeted from over 1 million students a decade ago to just 885,000 today, a rate double that of households without young children. Levine warns that the trend is unsustainable and that the city will need to consolidate schools with shrinking enrollments.

The Fiscal Policy Institute's executive director, Emily Eisner, attributes the exodus to the high cost of living in New York City, particularly for families with young children. Housing costs and childcare expenses, in particular, are unsustainable for many families. The cost of raising a child in New York City is staggering, with the total expenditure exceeding $300,000 over 18 years.

New York households with a child under 6 are 112% more likely to leave than those without. Cost of living pressures are further exacerbated by declining birth rates and the fact that only 15% of city households earn $200,000 or more, while the average two-child household earns significantly less. The report suggests that universal free childcare and increasing the housing supply could help alleviate the decline in children in the city.