University of New Hampshire Scholars\u27 Repository
Abstract
In this brief, authors Marybeth Mattingly, Jessica Bean, and Andrew Schaefer use American Community Survey data released on September 20, 2012 to address patterns of child poverty. To evaluate the changes in child poverty, they focused on two time periods -- change since 2007, as the nation entered the recession, and change since 2010. According to the American Community Survey, the overall child poverty rate for the United States rose slightly from 21.6 in 2010 to 22.5 percent in 2011, resulting in an estimated 16.4 million children living in poverty. Of these children, 6.1 million are young (under age 6). Forty-five percent, or 32.7 million, of America’s children reside in families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty threshold. They conclude that, in the wake of the recession, child poverty remains high, presenting significant challenges for children’s futures
