America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2010
Economic Circumstances
Measures of poverty,6 secure parental employment, and food security offer insight into the material well-being of children and the economic factors that affect their health and development. These measures indicate that many children faced challenging economic circumstances in 2008.
In 2008, 19 percent of all children ages 0–17 (14.1 million) lived in poverty, an increase from 18 percent in 2007. Thus, nearly 1 in 5 children lived in poverty in 2008, the highest rate since 1998. Those in poverty included 1 in 10 White, non-Hispanic children (11 percent), more than 1 in 3 Black children (35 percent), and nearly 1 in 3 Hispanic children (31 percent).7
The percentage of related children8 living in poverty also increased from 18 percent in 2007 to 19 percent in 2008, after fluctuating between 16 and 17 percent since 1999. For children in married-couple families, the percentage living in poverty increased from 9 percent in 2007 to 10 percent in 2008. Among Hispanic children in married-couple families, 22 percent lived in poverty, an increase from 19 percent in 2007.
In 2008, 8 percent of related children (5.9 million) lived in extreme poverty, defined as living in a family with income less than one-half of the poverty threshold (Figure 4). This percentage was the highest since 1998.
Figure 4: Percentage of related children ages 0–17 by family income relative to the poverty line, 1980–2008
NOTE: Estimates refer to children ages 0–17 who are related to the householder. The income classes are derived from the ratio of the family's income to the family's poverty threshold. A child living in extreme poverty is defined as a child living in a family with income less than 50 percent of the poverty threshold. Below poverty, but above extreme poverty, is defined as 50–99 percent of the poverty threshold. Low income is defined as 100–199 percent of the poverty threshold. Medium income is defined as 200–399 percent of the poverty threshold. High income is defined as being at or above 400 percent of the poverty threshold. For example, in 2008, a family of four with two children would be in extreme poverty if their income was less than $10,917 (50 percent of $21,834). The same family would be classified as low income if their income was at least $21,834 and less than $43,668.
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
Secure parental employment reduces the incidence of poverty and its related risks for children. The percentage of children with at least one parent working year round, full time was 75 percent in 2008, a decrease from 77 percent in 2007. The 2008 estimate for secure parental employment was the lowest since 1996. In 2008, 77 percent of older children (ages 6–17) had at least one parent who worked year round, full time, compared with only 71 percent of younger children (ages 0–5).
A family's ability to provide for its children's nutritional needs is linked to the family's food security—that is, to its access at all times to enough food for active, healthy lives for all family members. About 22 percent of children lived in households that were food insecure at times in 2008, an increase from 17 percent in 2007 and the highest percentage recorded since monitoring began in 1995 (Figure 5).9 About 1.5 percent of children (1.1 million) in 2008 lived in households with very low food security among children,10 up from 0.9 percent in 2007.
In 2008, among children living in households with incomes below the poverty threshold, 52 percent were in food-insecure households. Among children living in households with incomes at 100–199 percent of the poverty threshold (low income), 34 percent were in food-insecure households; and among children in households with incomes at or above 200 percent of the poverty threshold (medium and high income), about 9 percent were in food-insecure households.
Figure 5: Percentage of children ages 0–17 in food-insecure households by poverty status, selected years 1995–2008
NOTE: Food-insecure households are those in which either adults or children or both were "food insecure," meaning that, at times, they were unable to acquire adequate food for active, healthy living for all household members because they had insufficient money and other resources for food. Statistics for 1996–1998 and 2000 are omitted because they are not directly comparable with those for other years.
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement; tabulated by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service and Food and Nutrition Service.
6 Following Office of Management and Budget Statistical Policy Directive 14, poverty status is determined by comparing a family's (or an unrelated individual's) income to one of 48 dollar amounts called thresholds. The thresholds vary by the size of the family and the members' ages. In 2008, the poverty threshold for a family with two adults and two children was $21,834. For further details, see http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html.
7 In this survey, respondents were asked to choose one or more races. All race groups discussed in this paragraph refer to people who indicated only one racial identity. Hispanic children may be of any race.
8 Official poverty estimates for children are compiled in two ways—estimates for all children for whom poverty status can be determined and estimates for related children. Related children are related to the householder (or a subfamily reference person) by birth, marriage, or adoption and are not themselves householders, spouses, or reference persons. In 2008, all children included an additional 1.1 million children ages 15–17 who were not related to the householder.
9 The food security status of households is assessed based on self-reports of difficulty in obtaining enough food, reduced food intake, reduced diet quality, and anxiety about an adequate food supply. In some households classified as food insecure, only adults' diets and food intakes were affected, but in a majority of such households, children's eating patterns were also disrupted to some extent and the quality and variety of their diets were adversely affected. See Nord, M. (2009). Food insecurity in households with children: Prevalence, severity, and household characteristics (Economic Information Bulletin No. 56). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/EIB56/.
10 In households classified as having very low food security among children, a parent or guardian reported that at some time during the year one or more children were hungry, skipped a meal, or did not eat for a whole day because the household could not afford enough food.