In one of the richest countries in the world, 1 in 5 children are living in poverty.
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 22% of children in the United States are living below the federal poverty level, which is $23,550 per year for a family of four. That's $5,887 per person for an entire year. Unsurprisingly, research shows that an income of twice that level is required to cover basic expenses. If one were to use that figure, 45% of children now live in low income families. 16 million would turn into 32 million.
But let's return to concrete facts for the moment, where only 22% children in the United States live in poverty. Pretend our school is the United States. If our school has approximately 3,000 students, 660 of those students live in poverty.
What are the characteristics of these 16 million children? African American and Hispanic children are the most likely to live in poverty, with American Indian children close behind. They are more likely to live in rural areas than urban areas, and are slightly more likely to live in the South than the West, Midwest or Northeast. They probably live with only one parent- 70% of all children with a single parent live in low income families. Their parents may not have graduated college or even high school-86% of children whose parents did not graduate high school live in low income families, while 66% of children whose parents graduated high school but not college live in low income families. This means it is more important than ever to solve the problem that is the growing cost of college education. If a solution is not found, the vicious cycle of poverty will continue to worsen.
Children represent 24% of the country's population, but represent 34% of Americans living in poverty. Children are twice as likely to live in poverty as adults over 65. We must work together to solve the problem of poverty before it is too late.
Source: National Center for Children in Poverty
Becky Reals
Nice post Becky. Its so sad that in a nation filled with many wealthy, affluent people that others especially children live in poverty. Children are born into families and cannot help what economic situation they are born into. I'm not blaming their parents but rather blaming the system which traps people in a vicious economic cycle which they must fight to get out of. When born into an economically tough situation people are trapped and must work harder than a person born in a middle or upper class family.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to being at a disadvantage from the start, it is so sad to think there are so many impoverished children, perhaps hungry or even homeless. Again race comes into it as you mentioned with minorities having a greater percentage living in poverty. Single parents are also unfairly treated by the system because after they most likely suffered a loss of some kind they also have a loss of income and may have trouble providing for both themselves and their children. One in five children living in poverty is far too many. Its imperative that we end child poverty and poverty as a whole before the gap widens even more, just as you said.