Editing New Square, New York (section)

==Economy==
Young women, prior to entering marriage, and before they have children, work as teachers, secretaries, and bookkeepers, or they work in the New Square shopping center as cashiers and clerks. Some of the women, after having children, work as bookkeepers in their homes.<ref name="Mintz204">{{cite book|last=Mintz|first= Jerome R.| title=Hasidic People: A Place in the New World| publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]| year=1992| pages=204–205| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uEP5KNUAFh0C|isbn= 9780674041097}}</ref> Young men work as teachers, bus drivers, deliverymen, and store clerks. Some work as computer programmers, or as craftsmen and entrepreneurs in the diamond industry. Many study in the ''[[kollel]]'', a yeshiva for married men, and receive stipends to support their families.

In 1970, the village had the lowest per-capita income in New York State. In 1963, four persons received welfare due to illness. One dozen people received welfare in 1975. In 1992, the village administrator said that in 1975, about two thirds of the families received food stamps and [[Medicaid]].<ref name="Mintz202"/>

According to the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the village was $12,162, and the median income for a family was $12,208. Males had a median income of $21,696, versus $29,375 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the village was $5,237. About 67.0% of families and 72.5% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 77.3% of those under age 18 and 14.7% of those age 65 or over.{{update inline|date=April 2024}}

2007 and 2008 reports from the State of New York stated that 89.8% of the village consisted of low-income and moderate-income residents.<ref name="2008NewSquareSidewalk">"{{cite web |url=http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/Funding/Awards/NYSCDBG/2008Summaries/795PF5-08.pdf |title=V. of New Square Sidewalk and Curb Construction Project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326102438/http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/Funding/Awards/NYSCDBG/2008Summaries/795PF5-08.pdf |archive-date=March 26, 2009 |website=[[New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal]] |year=2008}}</ref><ref name="2007birthing">{{cite web |url=http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/Funding/Awards/NYSCDBG/2007OFSCAward795PF9-07.pdf |title=V. of New Square expansion of Aim B'yisroel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326102435/http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/Funding/Awards/NYSCDBG/2007OFSCAward795PF9-07.pdf |archive-date=March 26, 2009 |website=[[New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal]] |year=2007}}</ref>

{{As of|2018}}, New Square is by far the poorest town in New York, with a median annual household income of $21,773, which is nearly $5,000 below that of Kiryas Joel, the next poorest town in the state, and only about a third of the median income across the state as a whole.<ref name="Poorest">{{cite web |last1=Stebbins |first1=Samuel |last2=Sauter |first2=Michael B. |title=Which town in your state is the poorest? Here is the list |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2018/05/08/which-town-your-state-poorest-list-financial-hardship/581103002/ |website=USA TODAY |date=May 8, 2018}}</ref>

Not only is it the poorest town in New York state, but New Square also has the highest poverty and [[Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program|SNAP]] (food stamps) recipiency rates of any town in the United States. Some 70.0% of New Square residents live in poverty, and 77.1% of area households rely on SNAP benefits to afford food. In comparison, 15.1% of Americans live below the poverty line, and 13.0% of households nationwide receive SNAP benefits.<ref name="Poorest"/>