America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008
Economic Circumstances
Measures of poverty status,10 secure parental employment, and food security offer insight into the material well-being of children and factors that affect their health and development.
In 2006, 17 percent of all children ages 0–17 lived in poverty, a percentage which was not different from 2005. The poverty rate for younger children was higher than for older children. About 20 percent of children under 6 years and 16 percent of children 6–17 years lived in poverty in 2006.
The poverty rate was higher for Black children and for Hispanic children than for White, non-Hispanic children. In 2006, 10 percent of White, non-Hispanic children lived in poverty, compared with 33 percent of Black children and 27 percent of Hispanic children.11
Poverty among related children12 varies greatly by family structure (Figure 4).13 In 2006, children living in families with a female head with no husband present (female-householder families) continued to experience a higher poverty rate (42 percent) than children living in married-couple families (8 percent).
Figure 4 Percentage of related children ages 0–17 living in poverty by family structure, 1980–2006
NOTE: Estimates for related children ages 0–17 include children related to the householder (or reference person of an unrelated subfamily) who are not themselves a householder or spouse of the householder (or family reference person). In 2006, the average poverty threshold for a family of four was $20,614.
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1981 to 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
In 2006, 4 percent of White, non-Hispanic children in married-couple families lived in poverty, compared with 33 percent of White, non-Hispanic children in female-householder families. Twelve percent of Black children in married-couple families lived in poverty, compared with 50 percent of Black children in female-householder families. Nineteen percent of Hispanic children in married-couple families lived in poverty, compared with 47 percent of Hispanic children in female-householder families.14
Secure parental employment reduces the incidence of poverty and its related risks to children. Since most parents who obtain health insurance for themselves and their children do so through their employers, a secure job can also be a key factor in determining whether children have access to health care.
In 2006, the percentage of children who had at least one parent working year round, full time was 78 percent; this was not different from 2005, but was below its peak of 80 percent in 2000 (Figure 5). This percentage has remained relatively high thus far in this decade; in 1990, the percentage was 72 percent. Children living in poverty were less likely to have a parent with year-round, full-time employment than children living at or above the poverty threshold (33 percent and 88 percent, respectively, in 2006).
Figure 5 Percentage of children ages 0–17 living with at least one parent employed year round, full time by family structure, 1980–2006
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
A family's ability to provide for its children's nutritional needs is linked to the family's food security—that is, to its access at all times to enough food for active, healthy lives for all family members. About 17 percent of children (12.6 million) lived in households that were food insecure at times in 2006, a percentage not different from 2005 but lower than the 19 percent observed in 2004.15 About 0.6 percent (430,000 children) lived in households with very low food security among children as well as adults, down from 0.8 percent in 2005.16
10 Following the Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy Directive 14, poverty status is determined by comparing a family's (or unrelated individual's) income to one of 48 dollar amounts called thresholds. The thresholds vary by the size of the family and the members' ages. In 2006, the average threshold for a family of four was $20,614. For further details see http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html.
11 Beginning in 2003, the Current Population Survey asked respondents to choose one or more races. All race groups discussed in this paragraph refer to people who indicated only one racial identity. Hispanic children may be of any race.
12 A related child is a person ages 0–17 who is related to the householder (or reference person of an unrelated subfamily) by birth, marriage, or adoption, but is not the householder or the householder's spouse (or family reference person).
13 Estimates based on the official definition of poverty include estimates for children in two ways—estimates for all people in the poverty universe ages 0–17 and estimates for related children. This paragraph only reports family characteristics for children living with their families as defined by the related children concept. About 1.1 million children ages 15 to 17 are excluded from the group of related children. Non-Hispanic Whites are used as the comparison group for other race groups and Hispanics.
14 The poverty rate for Black children in female-householder families was not statistically different from that of Hispanic children in female householder families.
15 The food security status of households is assessed based on self-reports of difficulty in obtaining enough food, reduced food intake, reduced diet quality, and anxiety about an adequate food supply. In some households classified as food insecure, only adults' diets and food intakes were affected, but in a majority of such households, children's eating patterns were also disrupted to some extent and the quality and variety of their diets were adversely affected. See Nord, M. (2002). Food Insecurity in Households with Children (Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report FANRR34-13). Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fanrr34/fanrr34-13.
16 In households classified as having very low food security among children, a parent or guardian reported that at some time during the year one or more children were hungry, skipped a meal, or did not eat for a whole day because the household could not afford enough food.