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Children in Poverty
Headline In 2006, 17 percent of children lived in families with incomes below the poverty line - a percentage that has not changed since 2003. (See Figure 1) The groups most likely to be living in poor families include black and Hispanic children, children living in single-mother families, and children under age 6. (See Table 1, Table 2). Children under 18 are much more likely than adults to be poor.1 Being raised in poverty (defined as income of $20,444 or less in 2006 for a family of four with two children) places children at higher risk for a wide range of problems. Research indicates that poor children are disproportionately exposed to risk factors that may impair brain development and affect social and emotional development. A few of these risks include exposure to environmental toxins, inadequate nutrition, maternal depression, parental substance abuse, trauma and abuse, violent crime, divorce, low quality child care, and decreased cognitive stimulation and vocabulary exposure in infancy. 2,3,4 While causality is complex, experiencing poverty is related to increased risks of negative health outcomes for young children and adolescents. When compared with all children, poor children are more likely to have poor health and chronic health conditions.5 Children in poor families are more likely to be born premature and at a low birth weight and to develop later illnesses, such as respiratory diseases. As adolescents, poor youth are more likely to suffer from mental health problems, such as personality disorders and depression. Moreover, in comparison to all adolescents, those raised in poverty engage in higher rates of risky health-related behaviors, including smoking and early initiation of sexual activity.6,7 Aside from physical and mental health, poverty in childhood and adolescence is associated with a higher risk for negative cognitive and academic outcomes, including decreased cognitive abilities and development, less school attendance, lower reading and math test scores, increased distractibility, and higher rates of grade failure and early high school dropout.8,9 Poor children are also more likely than other children to have externalizing and other behavior problems, increased aggression, and emotional problems,10,11 and are more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors during adolescence.12 Finally, growing up in poverty is associated with lower occupational status and a lower wage rate as an adult.13In 1993, the child poverty rate was 22 percent - the highest rate since 1964.14 The child poverty rate then fell during the late 1990s to about 16 percent in 1999, where it remained through 2002. (See Figure 1) In 2003, however, estimates indicated a small but statistically significant increase in child poverty to 17 percent. Since then the percentage of children in poverty has remained at 17 percent. The 1995 to 2001 decrease in the poverty rate was especially large for black children (from 42 percent to 30 percent) and for Hispanic children (from 39 percent to 27 percent). In 2006, 33 percent of black children and 27 percent of Hispanic children lived in families with incomes below the official poverty threshold. (See Table 1) In 2006, 7 percent of children under age 18 lived in families in extreme poverty (below 50 percent of the poverty threshold). (See Figure 1) Note: Estimates for 2002 -2006 by race have been revised to reflect the new OMB race definitions, and include only those who are identified with a single race. Hispanics may be of any race. Differences by Race and Ethnicity Hispanic and black children are more likely to live in poor families than white and Asian children. In 2006, 14 percent of white children and 12 percent of Asian children lived in poor families, compared with 27 percent of Hispanic children and 33 percent of black children. (See Figure 2) Note: Estimates for 2002 - 2006 by race have been revised to reflect the new OMB race definitions, and include only those who are identified with a single race. Hispanics may be of any race. Differences by Family Structure Children are much more likely to be poor if they live in single-mother families than if they live in married-couple families. (See Figure 3) In 2006, 42 percent of children living in single-mother families were poor, compared with 8 percent of children living in married-couple families. The same pattern holds for white, black, Hispanic, and Asian children. For example, one-half of black and 47 percent of Hispanic children in single-mother families were poor in 2006. In contrast, only 12 percent of black children and 19 percent of Hispanic children in married couple families were poor during the same year. (See Figure 3) Note: Estimates for 2002 - 2006 by race have been revised to reflect the new OMB race definitions, and include only those who are identified with a single race. Hispanics may be of any race. Differences by Age Children under age six are more likely than children ages six to 17 to live below the poverty line (20 percent versus 15 percent, respectively in 2006). Similarly, white, black, and Hispanic children under six are more likely than older children of the same races to live below the poverty line. However, this difference was not found among Asian children. (See Table 2) Note: Estimates for 2002 - 2006 by race have been revised to reflect the new OMB race definitions, and include only those who are identified with a single race. Hispanics may be of any race. Long-Term Poverty, Long-Term Welfare Dependence, Secure Parental Employment
State-level child poverty estimates are available from CPS 2006 Annual Social and Economic Supplement Detailed Tables in Table 46 at 2000-2006 state estimates for children in poverty (100 percent), children in extreme poverty (50 percent), children below 150 percent poverty, children below 200 percent poverty, children below 250 percent poverty, and children under age 5 in poverty are available at http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/sld/compare.jsp (Click on Poverty) 2004 child poverty estimates for 50 large cities are available at http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060810_kidscity.htm
2004 state, county, and school district-level child poverty estimates are available through the Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program at
International Estimates Child poverty estimates (defined as the percent of children living on less than 50 percent of median income) for industrialized nations from the Luxembourg Income Study are available at http://www.lisproject.org/keyfigures/childpovdistrib.htm None What Works: Programs and Interventions that May Influence this Indicator Click here to view examples of programs and interventions that research has evaluated for this indicator. View programs
1U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P60-222, Detailed Poverty Tables, Table 1 http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/pov/new01_100_01.htm 2National Center for Children in Poverty. (1999). "Poverty and Brain Development." Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health. http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_398.html 3Mather, M. & Adams, D. (2006) A KIDS COUNT/PRB Report on Census 2000: The Risk of Negative Child Outcomes in Low-Income Families. KIDS COUNT & Population Reference Bureau. http://www.aecf.org/upload/PublicationFiles/DA3622H1234.pdf 4Huffman, L.C., Mehlinger, S.L., & Kerivan, A.S. (2000). Risk Factors for Academic and Behavioral Problems at the Beginning of School. The Child and Mental Health Foundation Agencies Network. 5Bradley, R.H. & Corwyn, R.F. "Socioeconomic Status and Child Development". Annual Review of Psychology. 2002: Vol. 53: 371-99. http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135233?journalCode=psych 6Haveman, R., Wolfe, B., & Wilson, K. (1997). "Childhood Poverty and Adolescent Schooling and Fertility Outcomes: Reduced-Form and Structural Estimates," in Duncan, G.J. & Brooks-Gunn, J. (eds.), Consequences of Growing Up Poor. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.http://www.russellsage.org/publications/books/0-87154-143-2 7Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne and Duncan, Greg J. (1997). "The Effects of Poverty on Children." Future of Children, Child and Poverty, 7(2). http://www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info_show.htm?doc_id=72141 8Bradley, R.H. & Corwyn, R.F. (2002). 9Dahl, G. & Lochner, L. (2005) The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement. Institute for Research on Poverty. Discussion Paper no. 1305-05. http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp130505.pdf 10Huffman, L.C., Mehlinger, S.L., & Kerivan, A.S. (2000). 11Child Trends, 2002. "Children in Poverty: Trends, Consequences, and Policy Options" (Research Brief). Kristin Anderson Moore and Zakia Redd. http://www.childtrends.org/Files/PovertyRB.pdf 12Bradley, R.H. & Corwyn, R.F. (2002). 13Hauser, R.M. & Sweeney, M.M. (1997). "Does Poverty in Adolescence Affect the Life Chances of High School Graduates?" in Duncan, G.J. & Brooks-Gunn, J. (eds.), Consequences of Growing Up Poor. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.http://www.russellsage.org/publications/books/0-87154-143-2 14U.S. Census Bureau. Historical Poverty Tables, Table 3. Available at: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/hstpov3.html Families are considered to be in poverty if their pre-tax money income (that is, not including in-kind benefits such as food stamps and not including the earned income tax credit) is less than a money income threshold that varies by family size and composition. The thresholds are updated annually to reflect inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. In 2006, the poverty threshold for a family of four with two related children under age 18 was $20,444. U.S. poverty thresholds for 1980 and beyond for various family configurations are available at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld.htmlData Source
Data for 1960-1997 from: Trends in the Well-Being of America's Children and Youth 2001. Table ES 1.2.A. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Data for 2006: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement, Detailed Poverty Tables, Table POV03 and POV05 at http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032007/pov/toc.htm Raw Data Source
Poverty rates for this indicator were calculated using the March Current Population Survey, a joint project of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. Approximate Date of Next Update Fall 2008
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