This indicator is part of Secure and stable families.

Indicator description:

This indicator notes the percentage of children under 18 living in poverty in a family in which no one in the household has worked within the past 12 months. Research is clear that the majority of those families who were able to rise above the poverty level did so because of wages which they earned while working. This occurred when member of the family found a job, got a better job, took an additional job, or because additional family members began working.

Why is this indicator relevant?

Working is the most reliable way for families to get out of poverty. When adults in the family are persistently unemployed, the family is unlikely to rise above the poverty level. Poverty can impede children’s ability to learn, and contribute to social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Poverty may also contribute to poor health and mental health. Risks are greatest for children who experience poverty when they are young and/or experience deep and persistent poverty. Adults in poverty are able to contribute less to their families and to their communities. In 2007, the American Community Survey added Group Quarters to the survey, which included people in jail, shelters, group homes, nursing homes, and dormitories in the sample who were not included before. It is unknown if this change is partly responsible for the upswing seen here between 2006-2007.

Data Sources:
Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count, Community Data Online, 2007; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2004-2007.

What can we tell from the data?

• Albuquerque has the highest rate of children in poverty where no parent is working, compared to peer cities in the Southwest.
• Albuquerque had a positive trend started, with fewer impoverished children having unemployed parents, but in 2007 Albuquerque appears to have lost much of the ground that had been gained since 2004.

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