|
|
Article: Who are America's poor children? The official story.(noted studies)(Brief article)
- Article from:
- Policy & Practice
- Article date:
- February 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 American Public Human Services Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
More than 13 million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level, which was $21,200 a year for a family of four in 2008. The number of children living in poverty increased by 15 percent between 2000 and 2007. There are 1.7 million more children living in poverty today than in 2000.
Not only are these numbers troubling--the official poverty measure tells only part of the story--but it is widely viewed as a flawed metric of economic hardship. Research consistently shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty level to make ends meet.
Children living in families with incomes below this ...