What do we mean by equality?Everyone has the same outcomes regardless of disability, sexual orientation, gender, age, race, ethnicity, immigration status, place of residence, and other characteristics.

How do we measure equality?We developed 96 indicators to measure progress towards equality across six thematic areas: economy, education, health, housing, justice, and services. Within each theme, we look at four specific topics. For example, within education, we look at equality in early education, elementary and middle school education, high school education, and higher education. Within each topic, we look at four unique indicators.

What is an indicator?An indicator is a measure that compares outcomes of groups likely to experience inequalities, such as racial minorities, to groups less likely to experience them, such as whites.

Indicators are reported in numbers and narratives. Every year, we score the indicators on a scale of 1 to 100, where 1 represents the greatest possible inequality and 100 represents the greatest possible equality. We compare current and previous year scores to capture change over time. We group indicators and average their scores to create topic scores, we group and average the topics to create theme scores, and we group and average the themes to create the citywide score.

What data do we use?We use two types of data to calculate indicator scores: administrative data from government agencies and not-for-profits; and public survey data from existing surveys and a citywide survey conducted by ISLG annually starting in 2015.

How was the framework developed?Building on our experience developing indicators, we

1. Conducted a thorough review of the literature on disparities and equality.

2. Identified and examined existing tools used in the United States and internationally.

3. Solicited feedback from U.S. and international experts on equality and indicators.

4. Hosted three large meetings with members of community organizations throughout NYC.

5. Solicited feedback from the NYC government.

Who are we?The Institute for State and Local Governance is a part of the City University of New York. We work with government, not-for-profit, private, and philanthropic organizations to improve the structure, financing, delivery, measurement, and evaluation of vital public services.

Questions?Email us at equality@islg.cuny.edu

This work is supported by The Rockefeller Foundation

Measuring equality in New York City

www.equalityindicators.org

Economy Health

Education

Housing

Justice

Services

PovertyRace & poverty

Race & food securityCitizenship status & poverty

Family composition& poverty

Business DevelopmentRace/gender & City contracts

Race & business ownershipGender & business ownershipLocation & business revenue

Income & BenefitsRace & income

Income & retirement savingsImmigration status & income

Gender & income

EmploymentRace & unemployment

Disability & unemploymentProbation status & unemployment

Employment assistance

Early EducationRace & pre-K diversity

Income & child care facilitiesIncome & pre-K quality

Family composition & early school enrollment

Elementary & Middle SchoolRace & math proficiency

Race & principal experienceIncome & bullying

Disability & English proficiency

Higher EducationRace & degree attainment

Race & post-degree employmentGender & science degrees

Incarceration & vocational training

High SchoolRace & academic performance

Race & foster care child education

Disability & on-time graduationIncome & on-time graduation

Access to Health CareRace & dental care

Race & medical careIncome & senior flu vaccination

Immigration status/gender & personal doctor

Quality of Health CareRace & asthma hospitalization

Race & diabetes hospitalization Race & sexually

transmitted diseasesIncome & chronic hepatitis B

MortalityRace & cardiovascular deaths

Race & infant mortalityRace & HIV-related deaths

Income & heroin deaths

WellbeingRace & low birthweight

Race & sugary drink consumptionIncome & smokingIncome & exercise

A�ordability of HousingRace & severe rent burden

Race & homeownershipRace & home purchase

loan denial Sexual orientation & homeownership

Quality of HousingRace & overcrowding

Income & heat/hot waterIncome & vermin infestation

Public housing & murder

NeighborhoodRace & neighborhood

family friendlinessIncome & trust in neighbors

Income & neighborhoodfamily friendlinessSexual orientation & housing stability

HomelessnessRace & homelessness

Child homelessness status & school attendance Age & homelessness

Age & length of shelter stay

Parks & Recreation Income & access to parksDisability & playground

accessibilityDisability & recreation

center accessibilityLocation & access to senior centers

TransportationRace & commuting time

Disability & subway accessibilityDisability & taxi accessibility

Location & bicycle lanes

Essential Needs & ServicesRace & hot/cold running water

Race & Internet accessImmigration status

& stove/range Location & hospital quality

Fairness of the Justice System

Race & misdemeanor arrestRace & trust in police

Race & jail admissionsReligion & trust in police

Political PowerRace & representation

in governmentDisability & voting accessGender & representation

in government Education & political

empowerment

Civic Engagement Race & public

meeting attendanceIncome & voter turnout

Immigration status & volunteering

Location & participatory budgeting

Safety & VictimizationRace & violent victimization

Race & domestic violence homicideFoster care status

& child abuse/neglect Hate crime victimization

Arts & CultureIncome & funding for the arts

Location & senior access to the arts

Location & public library availability

Parental education & children’s arts participation

Who experiencesinequality? Based on input from experts and community members, we identified a number of vulnerable groups that are likely to experience inequality because of their:• Age• Experience with the justice system• Family composition• Gender or gender identity• Immigration status• Income• Lack of a high school diploma• Physical or intellectual disability• Place of residence• Race/ethnicity• Religion• Sexual orientation