A large proportion of children in the United States experience poverty. , children were the largest age group living below the poverty line, and around 1 in 5 children were affected . Child poverty is measured using absolute and relative methods. It is caused by many factors, including race, education, and family structure, but ultimately race correlates with these factors. There are multiple effects due to this. Effects on health and development cause lifelong problems and lower educational outcomes, and food insecurity can also be caused by child poverty. The United States government has put in place programs using tax credits and transfers. There are also community programs that have impacted specific communities that have high child poverty rates. For future policies, research suggests that greater investment directed to children and families in poverty and connections between healthcare providers and financial services can lower the child poverty rate. Under the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure, 9.7 million children under age 18, or 13.4%, were in poverty in 2024, compared with 13.7% in 2023.
Causes
Education The education levels of the parents are shown to have an effect on the likelihood of child poverty. Parents who have an education only up to a high school diploma or less are much more likely to be poor due to the lack of high-paying jobs for low-skilled workers. This population may have a lower quality education as well if they grew up in a poor community, and this also causes them to be less skilled and desirable to employers. Due to their lower level of education, these people are likely to have lower incomes which translates into a lack of material needs like food and electricity. This population may also have more health problems. This can be due to genetics or malnutrition, and they are likely to work more physical jobs that may cause health problems in the future.
Family structure The structure of a household affects the likelihood of child poverty. Since the 1960s, the structure of a family has changed, and there are many more single-parent households, especially households headed by a mother. More specifically, there was an increase in black households with single parents, and about 30% of the gap between black and white households in poverty is because of the likelihood of black families headed by single mothers. Studies show that single-parent households are likely to be in poverty, and this is especially true for households headed by single mothers. In single-mother households, 30.6% are poor compared to only 6.2% for married families. Unlike most of the world, in the United States, all single-parent households have a higher risk for poverty.
The amount of earners present in a household also contributes to child poverty. Families with 2 or more earners will have more income and are less likely to have child poverty, and this is a trend seen globally. Single-parent households, therefore, are at a disadvantage because the revenue of only one person is present which is a reason for the greater amounts of child poverty, and households with no earners face the most risk of poverty.
Spatial differentiation
There are certain regions with higher concentrations of child poverty, due to employment opportunities, industries, and racial/ethnic distribution. Counties with mainly mining, farming, and government dependent industries have the highest levels of poverty with 23%, 21%, and 20% respectively. Communities dependent on mining and farming have higher rates of disability and lower rates of health insurance coverage, causing difficulty in providing for children. Areas with low rates of commuters for work are also shown to have higher child poverty rates than areas with higher commuter rates. Children in rural areas are more affected by child poverty as well. Many key industries have disappeared from these areas, resulting in service sector jobs that have lower pay and are less stable replacing them.
Certain regions of the country have concentrated regions of child poverty: Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, the Black Belt, the Four Corners, Native American Reservations, southwest Texas, etc. The South is especially unique because it has a history of racial discrimination, agriculture dependency, and, more recently, manufacturing opportunities. In the region, there is a close link with farming and race with a high population of African-Americans dependent on farming. In the country, there is also a correlation between high minority communities and high rates of child poverty. High minority communities had a mean child poverty rate of 22% while low minority communities had a mean rate of 16%. Unemployment is also a spatial factor of child poverty, especially in low minority communities.
COVID-19 pandemic In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased child poverty and its effects. Before the pandemic, around 10% of families in the country experienced food insecurity. Due to the pandemic, the food insecurity rate has increased by a factor of 2 or 3, resulting in children experiencing food insecurity in around 2 in 5 households. In rural counties, food insecurity doubled from 18% to 35%. Reasons for this substantial increase in food insecurity include reduced supply to food banks and high rates of unemployment. Of those who were unemployed during the pandemic, 31% report food insecurity. On the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019, the child poverty rate in the United States was nearly double that of several peer countries, including Canada, South Korea, and Germany.
Food insecurity also increased because of school closures. The National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program made up 70% of a child's daily nutrition and served nearly 3 million children. Since these meals are healthier than those from home, children have lower access to nutrition without these programs. Though some schools implemented grab-and-go meals, only 11% of families utilized this because many children who need it have parents who cannot take time off of work or do not have transportation.
The jobs of parents also affect educational outcomes when children have to learn virtually in their house. Without parental involvement, it can be hard for kids to continue learning at or near the level they had in-person. Often, children in poverty have parents who do not have the ability to work at home or take time off to be a teacher for their kids. These children may also have reduced access to technology. Of adults who earn $30,000 or less, only 34% use the internet. This also true for rural communities. This leads to children lagging behind their more wealthy counterparts and associated with higher drop-out rates and lower educational outcomes.
School also provides care services, and for many, it can be the only place to turn to when they need mental health support or necessary care. School is also important in detecting abuse and child maltreatment because teachers and school nurses are often the first line of identification. During the pandemic, there was an increase in reports of injuries signaling increases in child abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV). When children witness IPV, it can affect their relationships in the future. Poverty is also related to rates of COVID-19 infection and deaths. Counties with higher rates of poverty are shown to also have higher rates of infection and mortality due to COVID-19, 3.8 times higher in fact. Also, housing insecurity for children has increased. Before the pandemic, children accounted for 59% of the people experiencing homelessness, and during the pandemic, there was an increase in families becoming homeless with around 400,000 additional beds needed to shelter everyone. Overcrowding and poor plumbing facilities and other conditions are experienced by 15% of families. This can cause greater transmission of the virus and greater mortality.
Race
Child poverty and race have a distinct correlation with each other. There is a history of racism in the United States with the institution of the slave trade, Jim Crow laws, and the war on crime that incarcerated black men disproportionately. The effects of racism continue to be prevalent in the disparities found in the country and affect minority communities in many different institutions. In fact, poverty in minority communities was not addressed until the 1960s, and until then, the image of poverty was only represented by poor whites. Because racism affects so many aspects of life, the aforementioned effects are also in part caused by it.
As of 2014, around 38% of African-American children were in poverty, compared to only 13% of white children, and minority communities like American Indian and Hispanic/Latino follow closely behind with rates of 36% and 32%, respectively. African-American children are more likely than white children to be in persistent poverty due to multiple generations of discrimination. When accounting for differences in family structure and income levels, black children still persist in higher poverty rates which is evidence that child poverty is driven by racism.
The "war on crime" in the 1960s and the subsequent "war on drugs" in the 1980s caused greater incarceration of black Americans at disproportional rates. Racial profiling played a role in excessive arrests and incarcerations due to drug offenses that majorly impacted black and Latinx communities. This caused many children to grow up in single-parent households, and they were more likely to experience the juvenile and carceral system. This also continues the cycle of poverty by restricting opportunities in the future.
COVID-19 affects races differently as well. Predominantly black counties have three times the infection rate and six times the mortality rate due to COVID-19 compared to predominantly white counties. Overcrowded housing is more common in minority communities, leading to increased spread of the virus. 80% of families in homelessness are non-white, and food insecurity is experienced disproportionately by black and Hispanic households.
House ownership
House ownership is a very important factor in child poverty. It provides stability and a path to wealth accumulation. However, for minority communities, especially black families, house ownership is not a realistic possibility due to the high rates and historic discrimination. From the 1930s to the 1970s, the practice of redlining was common. This was used to designate certain neighborhoods as desirable or risky for mortgage lenders. White neighborhoods were almost always rated highly, while non-white communities like immigrants, Jews, Latinx, and blacks were labeled as risky and had a yellow or red label. African-American communities were especially discriminated against because the red label was often only for black neighborhoods. This caused many black communities to have fewer opportunities to move to better housing because the prices would be hiked up to discourage them and lenders would not give money at reasonable rates. While white Americans have house ownership rates of 73%, minority communities have much less around 50-60%, and only 42.1% of black Americans have houses. Because white Americans have had longer and more available house ownership, they accrued wealth over time which is part of the reason for the wealth gap that is present today. This residential divide that has continued throughout history also affects the quality of education available. Public school funding in the United States involves having the community a school serves to provide resources for the school. However, when a community has lower property values and lower income, like many of the previously redlined areas are, their schools are under-resourced to provide quality education. As mentioned in the previous section, this causes a cycle of poverty to occur.