|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Development Office
Health care employers dominate Boston's employment market, representing 40.5% of all jobs in 2000, followed by financial, insurance and real estate companies at 23.7%, and higher education at 14.7%. The city has some of the best hospitals in the world, three top medical schools, and leads U.S. cities in receipt of National Institutes of Health research funds. The five largest private employers in Boston in 2000 were Massachusetts General Hospital, Fidelity Investments, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Boston University. BMC is the ninth largest. Many city residents are not at the top of Boston's job market, despite the opportunities abounding here. A closer look at employment data reveals that, on average, only 28% of the employees at the city's largest private firms are Boston residents. The companies hiring the greatest percentage of Boston residents are supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, and hospitals. Boston metropolitan area unemployment rose from 2.5% in January 2001 to 4.3% a year later. The poverty rate exceeds 10%. Escalating housing prices are leaving low-income families and the elderly with few good options. Gentrification and immigration have caused some neighborhood populations to jump in recent years, while others have declined. The number of homeless people increased 48.3% in the years between 1991-2000, to around 6,000 men, women and children. Boosting affordable housing stock to retain a thriving working and middle class within the city is an urgent need and City Hall priority. The Boston Public School system is the oldest in the country, grappling with self-segregation as an increasing number of middle-class children attend private and parochial schools. Today, only 14% of public elementary school students are white. City schools are becoming a place for the poor, regardless of their race. Poverty, in turn, correlates with higher student turnover, fewer advanced courses, and more children with serious health problems that affect attendance and learning. Despite a generally good bill of health for the City, data for various neighborhoods and racial and ethnic groups reflect troubling health disparities. Heart disease and cancer are leading causes of death. Cancer mortality rates are declining overall, but remain higher for blacks and Hispanics. Obesity is a growing problem: only half of Boston adults are in the normal weight range; 14% are obese. Teen birthrates are dropping, but among Hispanic teens, rates are still 2½ times the citywide rate. One of the most unsettling statistics released this winter is an infant mortality rate for African-American babies in Boston that is four times higher than the rate for white babies. Children in low-income, predominantly minority neighborhoods also have higher incidences of asthma, lead poisoning, and low birth weight. |
|
|
|
|
|
