Satmar's Kiryas Joel Has Highest Poverty Rate In US, Census Says

The Satmar village of Kiryas Joel in upstate New York also has the highest rate of…

…marriage in the US.

 

Photo Credit: Times Herald-Record/DOMINICK FIORILLE

This is the future of American Jewry, the "hope" for our demographic survival. While Satmar is very good at making babies, it is very bad at providing those babies with skills and educations needed to earn enough money to support large families.

In other words, without massive amounts of charity, Kiryas Joel and communities like it– Borough Park, Williamsburg, Crown Heights, New Square and Monsey – are not sustainable.

KJ highest US poverty rate, census says
Expert on Hasidic communities says large families, poverty linked
By Matt King, Times Herald-Record

KIRYAS JOEL — This village has always had the distinction of being a cultural and religious enclave, but now it can add another:

Kiryas Joel is the poorest place in the country.

According to the latest round of U.S. Census figures, released late last year, the village has the highest poverty rate in the nation, and the largest percentage of residents who receive food stamps. Only one other place in the 50 states has a lower median income. The median household income in Kiryas Joel is $15,848; in Carbondale, Ill., it's $15,799.

More than two-thirds of Kiryas Joel residents live below the federal poverty line and more than 40 percent receive food stamps, according to the American Community Survey, a U.S. Census Bureau study of every place in the country with 20,000 residents or more.

That makes the village poorer than crumbling big cities like Detroit and noted slums like East St. Louis, and by far the poorest place in the mid-Hudson.

The poverty rate in Newburgh, the next-poorest place, is 28 percent. Regionwide, it's about 11.5 percent. Places in the country with poverty rates similar to Kiryas Joel are mostly college towns with large populations of students who don't have full-time jobs.

Village officials did not return calls seeking comment, but an expert in Hasidic communities said the poverty figures are tied strongly to the village's religious culture and mores.

Pressure to have many children and the demand to send them to expensive private schools, combined with a low number of people who go to college or leave the village to get higher-paying jobs, produces a static and poor society, said Samuel Heilman, professor of Jewish studies at Queens College.

"This is a population that sees childbirth as a sign of high status and for women a fulfillment of their divine and socially sanctioned role in life," Heilman said. "They are also an insular community that see life on the inside superior to the outside."

The tendency toward large families is borne out in the American Community Survey data.

The median age in the village is 14.4, meaning half of its more than 21,000 residents is 14 or younger.

Also, the village has the highest marriage rate in the country, with 80 percent of women ages 15 to 50 being married.

~~~~~~~~~~

Poorest places in the country and local results

Poverty rate

Kiryas Joel: 68 percent

Athens City, Ohio: 52 percent

State College, Pa.: 50 percent

Newburgh: 28 percent

Kingston: 19 percent

Middletown: 17 percent

Sullivan County: 13.9 percent

Ulster County: 11.6 percent

Orange County: 10.9 percent

Food stamp usage

Kiryas Joel: 41 percent

East St. Louis, Ill.: 40 percent

Prichard City, Ala.: 38 percent

Newburgh: 20 percent

Kingston: 12 percent

Middletown: 9 percent

Marriage rate of women ages 15-50

Kiryas Joel: 80 percent

Linton Hall, Va.: 78 percent

Fort Bragg, N.C.: 77 percent

Middletown: 42 percent

Kingston: 42 percent

Newburgh: 35 percent

Median age

Kiryas Joel: 14.4

Lakewood, N.J.: 20.4

Fort Hood, Texas: 20.6

Newburgh: 26.4

Middletown: 30.4

Kingston: 35.7

Source: American Community Survey, www.census.gov/acs/www/

Kiryas Joel.

[Hat Tip: Joan.]

Comments

[Norm]

While our leaders are busy looking at the causes of Anti-semitism they ought to look at Kiryas Joel which is one of the leading causes. Its one thing to maintain a mid-evil cuolt where you suck babies peniuses, marry your daughters off at aged 16 and try to live in a fantasy world that you believe mirrors 18th century eastern Europe but its another to do it at the expense of the general population. Let's face it Kiryas Joel is full of welfare Queen Esthers.

These people are no more Jewish that the Texas cult which was ripping of the state in welfare payments and food stamps.

Our federations need to stop funding any haredi organization directly or indirectly. No Bais Yakovs, no Torah Preps.

[A cow in Postville]

Norm;
I agree with you 100%. These poeple should not be allowed to get any type of state funding. I also happen to know for a fact that the local fire depatment does not like to respond to call in Krazy Joel because one of the firefighters was injured when a building collapsed. These poeple do not feel the need to obtain proper building permits.

[WoolSilkCotton]

They have the highest rate of welfare/food stamps. That isn't necessarily poverty; that's just expert manipulation of the system.
How much $$$ do they have hidden in cash, phoney names, and foreign accounts? Nobody will ever know.

[Pure Sephardic]

I wonder how much evading taxes had to do with the results of the census, if you factor all the earnings evaded it might not be so bad afte all.
Shmarya, you are wrong about other neighborhoods like Boro-Park and Crown Heights. They might not look it, but you'll be surprised at how many of the Chasidim are great businnessmen and are loaded. There are many many rich people in these neighborhoods.

[A cow in Postville]

Wool silk;
Under what conditions, would the federal government deny this group of people welfare. There must be some type of audit. The fact that such a larger percentage collect welfare and assistance one would thinnk it would raise many red flags

[Dr, Dave]

This is not true poverty, but manipulation of the system.

They have decided that they are all great lamdans and all from Yissachar so let the government be Zevulun and support their endeavors. Unfortunately the government means the rest of us.

We should cut off all support for schools that do not teach english and prepare people for real life - even trade school would be preferable to "the expensive private schools" that teach chassidus and little else.

You want to learn torah -fine. Also learn to be a plumber, welder, mechanic or electrician.

Learn how to balance a check book.

Learn CPR.

The tannas worked at menial jobs - even charcoal making. They would vomit at what this community has made of itself.

[A cow in Postville]

to Pure Sephardic:
You know nothing. There have been so many scams in Brooklyn. Reebok shoes, airline tickets pay phones. The bottom line is that the majority of the chassidic black hats are cheats. It is very un-American. they should be forced to immediately leave the country

[norm]

Cow and Sephardic-I'm not sure you disagree-these people are scam artists for sure. Some are poor by design others have cash businesses and are riping off the governmedt but always seem to have dough when it comes to buying a home. No politican though would have the balls to do anythingn because of the block voting from these criminals. Like I said they aren't Jews.

[Nachum]

I think there's one little detail that needs to be pointed out: Kiryas Joel is an independent city, thanks to Satmar political maneuvering. Therefore, it's going to stand out on lists in a way that, say, Boro Park or Bedford-Stuyvestant or South-Central Los Angeles- all of which are part of larger cities- will not.

Of course, that doesn't change the overall point about the poverty of the place.

We can also wonder if there's a lot of fraud going on here, in the form of people claiming poverty when they aren't really. Of course, that would just make it worse.

[Jeff Eyges]

I found the figures confusing. The article states that Newburgh has the next highest poverty rate, at 28%, but the sidebar lists Athens, OH at 52% and State College, PA at 50%. Also, Newburgh is listed several times (unless they're different Newburghs).

The Hareidi world is succumbing to pressure from without and crumbling from within. It can't sustain itself. Within a generation or two, there will be nothing left but isolated pockets. Modern Orthodoxy is largely a dead issue. When Hareidsim goes, it's taking Orthodoxy with it. I think this will be a watershed, destruction-of-the-Temple moment; Judaism will have to reinvent or redefine itself in order to survive.

[A cow in Postville]

Nachum;
You really are not dumb enought to think these people are honest. OF COURSE there is major fraud going on there. These poeple are not Jewish and should not be entitled to any assistance. As far as voting goes, that is a shame. They are to stupid to make a choice on their own, they are TOLD who to vote for by the leaders of the community. The IRS needs to start an immediate investigation

[Reb Yisrael]

When it comes to getting funds from local\state\federal government, the KJ Hisidic's always claim those who oppose giving
KIRYAS JOEL money are anti-semitic or anti-Semitism

Yet
The Satmars teach the young Hisidic the State of Israel shouldn’t exist because the Messiah hasn’t come yet, that the Holocaust was God’s way of punishing Jews for Zionism. It makes you sick.”

for all their endless Halacha, the people in Kiryas Joel are not even Jews at all, much less from New York. “They’re a cult! They don’t believe in science. They hate art. They hate literature. They don’t pay taxes. For me, to be a Jew is to be curious, compassionate with others. These guys only care about themselves.”

[Yossi G.]

And no one questions that in the poorest area in the country every man has a $2000 hat?

Yossi G.

[JewishCynic]

Just drop by the Pathmark in Monsey to see the well dressed "yungerlite" pay with food stamps then go out to their Escalades parked in the handicapped spot.

[Jeff Eyges]

They see nothing wrong in taking advantage of the goyische velt. When you're taught for generations that gentiles don't have souls, it seems reasonable to use them equivalently.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

People are talking about it over here:

The poorest place in the country? No, not there. Or there. Or anyplace else you're thinking. It's a Hasidic town in New York that's got a 68 percent poverty rate

Quite the Kiddush Hashem.

[Yochanan Lavie]

The town's name reminds me of Curious George.

[Rach]

I found the figures confusing. The article states that Newburgh has the next highest poverty rate, at 28%, but the sidebar lists Athens, OH at 52% and State College, PA at 50%. Also, Newburgh is listed several times (unless they're different Newburghs)

Athens, OH and State College, PA are college towns. The vast majority of the population is full time students who do not work. (Ohio University is in Athens and Penn State is in State College, PA.) This is why these cities get skipped. They skew the statistics.

I read the book Under the Banner of Heaven. It was about fundamentalist Mormonism. I remember thinking that it was awfully similar to Charedi Judaism (at the time I was a “religious” Jew). Interesting enough, they too fraud the government of millions of dollars via the welfare/foodstamp system. They do not consider it stealing because the government is not Mormon. If the residents of Kiryat Joel are engaged in fraud too, I am sure they have similar excuses.

[Pure Sephardic]

Cow,
I wasn't discussing their honesty, but to say that Boro Park is poor is a very long shot. I live in Brooklyn and deal with these people daily in Business. Where it comes from I don't know, but they have money. Many are in real Estate without anyone knowing and earning a good living.

You can't compare Kiryat Yoel to anywhere, that's my point. Just chill out

[Red Sox Fan]

The "gedolim" will never say anything about them because they're afraid of them.

[Rabbidw]

First of all anyone who owns a house in Boro Park, by definition, is not poor. A cash flow problem maybe, but not poor.
Second Kiryat Yoel is contemptible, but not because the men learn all day. They don't. the kollel is not a chasidishe intitution. It is a litvishe institution. The problem is they are not educated in ANY way that will enable them to make a living. My wifes cousin lives in Monsey and her boys go to a school which teaches in YIDDISH instead of English. What are these kids supposed to do for a living when they grow up. There are any number of great jokes on point but it AIN'T FUNNY. I will not give money to anyone wearing a black hat. I will not be a party to this perverted life style. It is hard enough in this day and age to make a living when you are prepared. For a parent not to teach his children to earn a living is like drowning them deliberately.

[Ahavah]

You know, now that the Democrats are in charge, the probability is high that they will require birth control as a condition of receiving welfare benefits and food stamps. Nancy Pelosi has already made public statements that abortion is good for public policy because it reduces costs - so you can see where they are headed. Kiryat Yoel and every other Jewish community has been warned for at least the past four or five years, and longer by others, that they needed to become self sufficient before things got out of hand. Now things are out of hand - and those benefits they've been counting on are going to come with strings attached that they cannot stomach. I don't even feel sorry for them anymore. They have done this to themselves - and not in ignorance.

[uncle joe mccarthy]

cut them off of all aide and watch the per capita income rise

they are jooking the system

we jews used to have self respect...no more

now rebeim tell guys to get on food stamps and get section 8 housing in order to learn

this needs to end

time for welfare reform in our community

[WoolSilkCotton]

If you cannot support a family, you need to keep your pants on. That's what should be taught at the Satmar yeshiva.

[Pure Sephardic]

At least these guys are citizens, how many illegal immigrants flood NY hospitals for free, send their kids to our tax-funded schools and never pay a cent in taxes.
the Libdems now are giving them checks as part of the "stimulis", and as H. Obama said he believes Spanish should be taught at schools. Let's run before they run us over

[BaltimoreYid]

When I was a young man my father & I were driving through KJ. My dad (z"l) asked me how a man who doesn't work has a car & a house. I told him I didn't know, he told me that I was an idiot & I should "figure it out." I have figured it out, it is called ganaiva.

[WoolSilkCotton]

I remember this song from years ago:

Welfare Cadillac
by Guy Drake
1970 - Country

Well, I've never worked much
In fact, I've been poor all my life
I guess I really own is
Ten kids and a wife

This house is a lived in mine
But it's really a shack
But I always managed somehow
To drive me a brand new Cadillac

Backdoor steps
They done fell plum down
Front screen door's off and laying
Somewhere out there on the ground

Wind just now whupped another piece
Of that old tar roofing off the back
Sure hope it don't skin up that new Cadillac

Front porch steps, they're loose at the bottom
It don't make no sense to fix them
Cause that floor just too darn rotten

Wintertime, we sometimes have some snow
That blows in through the cracks
It gets too bad, we just all pile up
Sleep out there in that new Cadillac

I know the place ain't much but
I sure don't pay no rent
I get the check the first of every month
From this here federal government

Every Wednesday, I get commodities
Sometimes, four or five sacks
Pick em up down at the welfare office
Driving that new Cadillac

Some folks say I'm crazy
And I'd even been called a fool
But my kids get free books and
All them there free lunches at school

We get peanut butter and cheese
And, man, they give us flour by the sack
Course, them welfare checks
They make the payments on this new Cadillac

The way that I see it
These other folks are the fools
They're working and paying taxes
Just to send my youngins through school

Salvation Army cuts our hair and
Gives us the clothes we wear on our back
So we can dress up and ride around
And show off this new Cadillac

But things still gonna get better yet
At least that's what I understand
They tell me this new President
Put in a whole new poverty plan

Why, he gonna send us poor folks money
They say we gonna get it out here in stacks
In fact, my wife's already shopping around
For her new Cadillac

Perhaps we could use an updated version, fine-tuned for our Satmar brethren. Don't know if you remember this song, YL!!

[Jeff Eyges]

For a parent not to teach his children to earn a living is like drowning them deliberately.

Kiddushin 29-30 states, "Whoever does not teach his son a trade [or profession] teaches him to be a thief."

Hareidim, like all fundamentalists, read their sacred texts selectively.

I read the book Under the Banner of Heaven. It was about fundamentalist Mormonism. I remember thinking that it was awfully similar to Charedi Judaism

The similarities to Islamic fundamentalism are also striking. There is a sameness to the ways in which fundamentalists express themselves. Hareidim have more in common with fundamentalists of other faiths than they do with non-Orthodox Jews.

[Yochanan Lavie]

WSC: I've been taking a bit of a time out from FM, because of the anti-Semites and other haters who are mucking up this site. I am not well-versed in country music, so I don't know the song. I was born in 1961, BTW, so I know the 60's-90's and even the 50's by way of the nostalgia boom in the 70's. I know rock, pop, R&B, a little reggae/ska, punk, disco, old school rap, some country (mostly crossover stuff). I know Springsteen's "Cadillac Ranch." The lyrics kinda sorta reminded me of that.

[WoolSilkCotton]

++I've been taking a bit of a time out from FM, because of the anti-Semites and other haters who are mucking up this site.++

I feel the same way, and have only recently returned after taking a few FM 'sick days', and rethinking my strategy about dealing with threads that take an ugly wrong turn.
I've decided to stop participating in threads when the haters show up. I will also not respond to any comments from same.

I do hope Shmarya eventually gets the message. Other blogsites got ruined when they were overrun with spammers, haters, and obnoxious a-holes. Allowing unfettered free speech combined with anonymity seems to bring out the worst in some people.

A Gutte Voche to all.

[Dave Marshall]

I think it was very instructive to read some of the posts lately. I think Jim clearly showed us why Judaism and Christianity are irreconcilable, theologically.
I think that many people go on this site just to "vent". I have decided that I want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. So I am starting some projects to promote Judaism to non-Jews, since I think that there are so many many many outreach groups for born Jews, and the response has been pretty minimal, IMHO. All the converts I've met or corresponded with are waaaay more enthusiastic about Judaism than many born Jews.
If anyone would like to help me, I would really really really really appreciate it.
Please e-mail me at: superdave8002@hotmail.com

[libby in the hood]

Jeff Eyges: Under the Banner of Heaven--great book. I also read "Escape" by one of the wives of a prominent FLDS leader. I am currently reading a historical fiction--the 19th Wife. As I have been reading these books, I am also struck by the similarities that these fundamentalist cults have. As the critics of the FLDS say: they can go fight a war to help liberate the women under Taliban rule, but what about the women who are living their own American "Taliban" regime right here at home?

[Shneerhere]

All great comments here. Hell, who needs to surf Aryan Nations anymore, the anti-Jewish drivel here is more than plenty!

So they manipulate the system. Wow. It is bad, but it is also bad when my secular stockbroker with his shiksa wife does the same thing, tax fraud and all. But I don't see a full page of screaming anti Jew talk on it.
I know Chinese jewelers and Irish Chicago cops who 'manipulate the system' too. Some would argue Daley institutionalizes it! Should we denigrate all those 'dirty Irish' , oh wait, they're not 'really Irish' right?
You guys are the eptitome of Sinat Chinam.
I don't like crooks, I don't like thieves, and I don't like Satmar's anti Israel stance, to be sure. But what you guys posted is at least as big a Chillul HaShem as anything they do. Shame on all you 'enlightned' past, present and never Orthodox.

[A. Kooper]

I'm shocked at the amount of bigotry going on in this blog. How about some benefiting of the doubt. I actually spent a shabbat there (got stuck on the highway) and they are extremely nice people. There are enough Jew haters around we should at least look out for each other.

[medic mark]

B.S. As someone who lives in one of the surrounding towns and who owns a buisness in the area ive seen more crooked things in the village of K.J. than you can imagine. If they have the highest poverty rate then why is the vehicle of choice there a 40-70 thousand dollar suberban or cadillac escalade. And the same people who are driving these cars are paying for grocerys with food stamps. Ive been in alot of these homes and believe me there is no poverty in K.J. Ive personly seen these people with more cash on hand than I can imagine. New York state needs to grow a set and investigate who they are giving money to and stop this nonsence.

[Thomas Sullivan]

Mark you are right on,I agree 100%
Kiryas Joel has gotten away with so much and our elected officials just keep handing more and more to them.The problem is that nobody will do anything about it because they need to treat KJ with kid gloves in order to get elected while the rest of us don't even matter