Child Poverty in the U.S.: What New Census Data Tell Us About Our Youngest Children
Type
Policy Brief or Report
Year
2013
Level
County
State(s)
All States
Policy Areas
Children & Families, Civil Rights, Economic Justice, Education, Health
Almost 22 percent of children are poor. In 2012, over 16 million children in the U.S. were living in poverty according to the official measure, defined as living in families with income under $19,090 for a family of three. This is almost identical to figures for 2011, but an increase of nearly three million and 4 percent over 2007 (the last year before the Great Recession). Children are more likely than adults to be poor.