Survey Finds Outer-Borough Residents Dominate Construction Industry

NEW YORK CITY-As the city’s construction industry workforce continues to diversify in terms of race and location, inequalities in health care coverage are coming to a head, new data shows. According to a New York Building Congress analysis of 2010 US Census Bureau data, 75% of New York City’s construction industry workforce lives in the five boroughs, with Queens and Brooklyn leading the way. But in an industry defined by middle-class outer-borough residents, nearly half are lacking health insurance.

The analysis, based on personal responses to the Census Bureau survey, measures both union and non-union labor, as well as management positions, architects, engineers, office support, service workers and “off-the-books” workers. The Building Congress survey found that out of the 224,500 men and women in the construction industry, whites accounted for 40% of the total workforce (88,700 people), followed by Hispanics at 36% (807,000 workers), Black non-Hispanic at 14% (31,600 workers) and Asians at 9% (21,200 workers). In addition, non-US citizens account for 39% of the pool, and 56% reported that they speak a language other than English in their homes.