Report from National Center for Children in Poverty

Posted by on July 25, 2003

[Public Education Network Newsblast]

LOW INCOME CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES
The United States? child poverty rate is substantially higher than that of most other major Western industrialized nations. While the child poverty rate has been reduced by more than one quarter since it peaked in 1993, the decline stalled in 2001. With the recent economic downturn, there is a risk the United States will again experience sharp increases in child poverty similar to those that accompanied the recessions of the early 1980s and 1990s. Currently: The federal poverty level for a two-parent family of four (in 2001) is $17,960. Research shows that, in most areas of the United States, it takes roughly double the federal poverty level to provide a family with the basic necessities of life like food and housing. African American and Latino children live in low-income families in significantly higher rates than white children. This overview from the National Center for Children in Poverty gives an overview of child poverty and discusses how government programs make a difference for children living in poverty.

http://www.nccp.org/pub_cpf03.html