America's Poor Children

The economic turmoil of recent years has impacted almost every community in the United States. A recent report by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) lists sobering statistics on how children are increasingly feeling the effects. In 2009, 1.3 million children joined the ranks of those whose family income fell below the federal poverty level. This comes on top of the 14 million children who were already living in poverty.

While these numbers are troubling, the NCCP stresses that the official poverty measure tells only part of the story. Research consistently shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty level to make ends meet.

What can be done to help these familes? Based on its research, the NCCP supports a number of major policy strategies that could improve the well-being of children and families living in poverty.  Among them are:

• Increase the minimum wage.
   
• Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and other tax credits such as the Additional Child Tax Credit and the Making Work Pay Tax Credit.
   
• Provide better access to benefits such as health insurance.
   
• Support parents and their young children in early care and education by providing child care subsidies, programs that target families with infants and toddlers -- such as Early Head Start -- and investments in preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds.
   

Learn more about NCCP and read the full findings of Who Are America's Poor Children?