Income Assistance Programs Helped Shield More Than 5 Million Children from Poverty in 2014

The United States child poverty rate remained frozen at one child in five in 2014, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today.  In 2014, 21.1 percent of all American children—15.5 million children—lived in poverty, a rate not statistically different from the 21.5 percent rate recorded in 2013. The nation’s child poverty rate remains the highest among the world’s high-income countries, according to other studies.
 
“It’s very disappointing to find that the reduction in child poverty we observed in 2013 has not been sustained,” said Renée Wilson-Simmons, director of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “The new data show the critical need for economic stimulus to create living-wage jobs.”  
 
While poverty rates remained unchanged for children in all major racial and ethnic groups in 2014, the likelihood of being poor still varied widely by race and ethnicity in America.  The poverty rate for black children in 2014 was 37.1 percent, compared to 31.9 percent for Hispanics, 14.0 percent for Asians, and 12.3 percent for non-Hispanic white children.  
 
Other key points from the 2014 data:

• Forty three percent of American children (31.5 million) live in families with incomes less than twice the poverty line.
• More than 9 percent of children (6.8 million) live in deep poverty, with family incomes less than half the poverty line.  Eighteen percent of black children (2 million) and 12.9 percent of Hispanic children (2.3 million) live in deep poverty.
• Children living in single-parent households are much more likely to be poor than children in households with two parents present.  About 46 percent of children in families with a female householder are poor, compared to about 11 percent of children in families with married parents.
• For Americans of all ages, the 2014 poverty rate was 14.8 percent—or 46.7 million people—unchanged from 2013.

For the first time, the Census Bureau released its annual supplemental poverty measure (SPM) on the same day as the official measure. The SPM takes into account the impact of income supports and assistance designed to help low-income families.
 
“Using the supplemental measure, refundable tax credits alone lifted more than 5 million children out of poverty in 2014,” said Curtis Skinner, NCCP’s director of family economic security. “The data announced today add a significant dimension to discussions on the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs and to having an accurate picture of child poverty in America.”
   
The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) is a nonpartisan public policy research center dedicated to promoting the economic security, health, and well-being of America’s low-income children and families. Part of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, NCCP uses research to inform policy and practice with the goal of ensuring positive outcomes for our nation’s children. For more information on child poverty and tools to track the impact of family supports, visit www.nccp.org.

About Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its over 450 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change & health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with over 1,300 graduate students from more than 40 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers including ICAP (formerly the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs) and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu.