By Bryce Covert
Even as unemployment has gradually declined, the child poverty rate has been on the rise, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Between 2010 and 2011, the number of children living in poverty rose from 15.7 million to 16.4 million. The child poverty rate also rose from 19 to 23 percent from 2005 to 2011, representing an increase of 3 million children.
The rates are even worse for younger kids: Children age five and under have a poverty rate of 26 percent. They are also worse for racial minorities: African-American children have a 39 percent poverty rate, almost three times that of white children, who have a rate of 14 percent.
Their families also have high rates of poverty. In 2011, nearly half – 45 percent – of children lived in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, or $45,622 for a family of four. Families have also taken a hit from the recession. Nearly a third of children in the U.S., or 23.8 million, lived in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment in 2011, a figure that has risen by 3.6 million since 2008. The employment figures are also higher for racial minorities, as about half of African-American and American Indian children had no parent with full-time, year-round employment, compared to just a quarter of white children.
Read More Child Poverty Has Risen Even As Unemployment Falls.
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Thanks for sharing. This study is timely as poverty is a problem in our country and neither party is talking about it enough, with one party actually fueling the fire to make it worse. 47% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and it only takes a small emergency – loss of one job, reduced hours, healthcare crisis, car crisis, etc. to push them into homelessness. The largest block (40%) and fastest growing segment of homeless is a single mother with children. If you get a chance, check out the documentary called “American Winter” which shows how people in Portland, OR became impoverished and had no idea it could happen to them. Also, Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley have written a book called “The Rich and the Rest of Us” which is a good read. If you don’t have time, I wrote two posts last October on the book. So, just click on my name and check them out. We need many things to happen – we need the Affordable Care Act to continue and the states who did not expand Medicaid need to do so; we need an increase to the minimum wage as it perpetuates poverty where it is; we need more investment in our infrastructure and community college system that will create pathways to jobs and we need birth control tools and education to be more readily available. Kids are going to have sex, so they need to know what it can lead to (note there is a high correlation between family size and poverty. Sorry to wax on. In my volunteer work, I help homeless families, so I see this first hand. Take care and keep on writing. BTG