Children in Poverty

By Karen Sternheimer

60 Minutes recently aired a story about children living in families so hard hit hard by the recession that they had become homeless.

Poverty is one of those subjects that many of us often prefer not to think about. Child poverty is a particularly difficult issue to broach, despite the fact that more than one in five American children now live under the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

As you can see from the graph below, children are the age group most likely to live in poverty. While the elderly used to have higher poverty rates, by the mid-1970s those rates declined dramatically, likely in part as a result of federal programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Overall, far fewer people of all ages live in poverty now that they did 50 years ago. However, poverty rates have been rising in recent years, due in large part to the recession. The economic downturn has hit children particularly hard. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), currently 15 million children live below the FPL and the percentage of children in poverty rose 33 percent between 2000 and 2009. NCCP suggests that families actually need to earn at least twice the FPL to be economically stable. They estimate that 31 million live in low income families, or 42 percent of American children.

While white children comprise the largest raw number of children in poverty, African American/Black, American Indian, and Hispanic/Latino children are disproportionally more likely to live in poverty compared with white or Asian children. Children of all ethnicities who live in single mother headed households are also more likely to live in poverty.

And as you can see from the graph below, child poverty varies regionally. Children in the South have the highest poverty rates, with Mississippi’s topping out at just over 30 percent. (Puerto Rico, an American territory, has a child poverty rate of 55.9 percent.)

By contrast, the Northeast and Plains states have the lowest child poverty level, with New Hampshire the nation’s lowest at 9.5 percent.

Percent of Children under 18 in Poverty, past 12 months

Source: American Community Survey 2005-2009, U.S. Census

The NCCP’s data challenges several common beliefs about children in poverty: that it is the result of parents who won’t work, who have too many kids, and who experience generational poverty.

As the 60 Minutes story suggests, children in poverty are most likely poor as the result of a major disruptive change in their family: a lost job, an illness, divorce, or death. According to the NCCP, “Most of these children have parents who work, but low wages and unstable employment leave their families struggling to make ends meet.” The NCCP’s research also dispels several myths:

Family poverty in the U.S. is typically depicted as a static, entrenched condition, characterized by large numbers of children, chronic unemployment, drugs, violence, and family turmoil. But the realities of poverty and economic hardship are very different.

Americans often talk about “poor people” as if they are a distinct group with uniform characteristics and somehow unlike the rest of “us.” In fact, there is great diversity among children and families who experience economic hardship. Research shows that many stereotypes just aren’t accurate: a study of children born between 1970 and 1990 showed that 35 percent experienced poverty at some point during their childhood; only a small minority experienced persistent and chronic poverty. And more than 90 percent of low-income single mothers have only one, two, or three children.

Given that poverty often comes after a child’s birth, it is too simple to just suggest that poor people not have children. What other factors might reduce the growing number of children living in poverty?

Comments

[alexoro1993@yahoo.com]

the increase of the amount of children in poverty is a clear concern in society today. When people think of children in poverty, their hearts sink largely because we have the idea that people (especially) children should have basic human rights in which everybody is entitled to a home and food. Sadly that isn't the case and thousands of children everyday die from malnutrition or poor living conditions

[Mexican]

It's horrible how thousands of children are dying everyday because their family can not afford to keep them protected and healthy. People are to concerned about their own lives they do not do enough to help others.

[Hiten]

I would say that generational poverty is indeed an issue. If you live in an environment infested with drugs, violence etc then it is almost impossible to get out of that cycle. Often they need to get away from those conditions and those forces make it virtually impossible to gain social mobility.

[Hiten]

Below is a well written explanation by an author who grew up in generational poverty and found a way to escape it.

http://dougwallace.net/blog/2011/01/the-paradox-of-choice-for-the-young-and-poor/

[Hiten]

Poor people are inclined to have more children and earlier in life as often they hope that having children can help their family escape poverty as the children become young adults. But the pressure of raising good children on limited means and usually in drug infested violent environments undermines such efforts so much so that the poverty cycle continues.

[Lynnea Laessig]

The families living in poverty probably have poor internal family connections between parents and children. Because so many single moms are struggling to work in order to earn enough money to support herself and her children.

[assisted living atlanta]

Poverty is the number one problem in the country every now and then. I hope those who have plenty of treasure will give even a bit of help.

[Sam]

It's unfortunate that poverty is such an issue. For a country which is supposed to have equality amongst all its citizens it's upsetting to see so many people who can't eat on a regular basis, especially kids.

[john]

The article I read was titled “Children in Povery”. This article was about the growing number of children who now live below the federal poverty level. This article talks about the increase in children in poverty since the recession. It is estimated that one in five American children are living under the poverty level. This article was very interesting and I learned that children make up most of the people that live below the poverty level and that if white children make up the highest amount of children in poverty but children who are a minority are still more likely to live below poverty levels. The U.S has a huge problem with child poverty and this really surprised me because we are supposed to be a great and caring country. Our government is always involved with foreign affairs, trying to help others meanwhile there is a huge problem in our own country. It disgusts me to think that one in five children are living below poverty level because this means they most likely don’t eat well, won’t have educational opportunities and are prone to early death. Something in this country has to be done to address this issue.

[Wes Jordan]

This article really hit hard for me as I come from a family where both my parents grew up in poverty and were eventually able to move up into the middle class. It is shocking to look at the statistics for children in poverty throughout the 21st century. At least 30 percent of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian children are engulfed in poverty. A disproportionate amount of single mothers across all races are in poverty. I had previously thought that the recession was over, but after watching the CBS video and reading this article, I discovered that a shocking 9 percent of the population in the U.S. today are in poverty. 16 million people in our Country do not have permanent shelter, food to eat, or clothes to wear. I believe this is a basic human right we all should not have to live without. Something needs to be done to boost our economy and our people out of this recession in order for generational poverty to not exist in our Country. To be one of the most industrialized and powerful Countries in the world, we sure are not taking enough care of our brethren.

[Salina]

Some other factors that could reduce the number of children living in poverty is better education. Many people that live in poverty have poor educations. For example, my father got laid off a couple of years ago and we almost sank down into that direction. However, he decided to go back to college and we have hope for the future of our life. Nowadays, no one can go anywhere without a proper education, so it's imperative to increasing a person's quality of life. Also, getting rid of the negative stereotypes could reduce the number of children living in poverty. The negative stereotypes make many children feel like it is something to be ashamed of, and it isn't because in most cases, it isn't the children's fault. If they weren't embarrassed, they would speak out so that they could receive help.

[David Bell]

As we all know, the rate of children living under poverty has gone up in the past 10 years, and is becoming quite a concern. A child should not have to worry about if they will have a house to live in, in the next month, or even about when they will get their next meal. As a child, they should have the right to be a child, and run, and play, free of worries. For what you are saying in your article, it makes perfect sense, and I believe that we, as Americans, should make more effort to helping the people of our nation. We the people.

[tongkat ali extract]

The problem is that people in poverty are largely unseen. They don't stand around shouting that they're living in poverty. They're ashamed. That's why food banks often leave food out at night. It always gets taken by someone. It's all very sad.

[Breast Actives]

I'd like to thank you for talking about a very painful subject for me. I once had trouble feeding my kids and it is probably the worst feeling in the world.

[Kylie Smith]

In my Sociology Class we have been learning about Basic Human Rights, among those being the most importnat rights of equality, freedom, and happiness. Being close to the issue of poverty, part of my heart is in relation with this article. Now being taught of the rights we hold as human beings, it makes me wonder how these children are able to have these rights in the state that they are now. There should be an organization to make sure that they can lead a life to be successful no matter what their background may be. Thank you so much for writing about this rapidly increasing issue.

[Flotrol Anderson]

I just watched this. Fascinating, but sad.