![growing up poor in america growing up poor in america](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0288/1912/products/Rediscovering_America_Growing_Up_In_The_40s_37f5aa44-26f4-48c5-bd68-3be56ddfebd7_grande.jpg)
More than half (53 percent) of low-income children and 31 percent of poor children live with at least one parent employed full time, throughout the year. Children whose parents are employed full time are less likely to live below the poverty line, but earning a wage was no guarantee of economic security in 2015, according to NCCP research.
![growing up poor in america growing up poor in america](https://excellentfeed.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1660904640_597_Growing-up-Getty-Biography-details-billionaire039s-extravagant-life.jpg)
These are some of the findings in the 2017 edition of Basic Facts about Low-Income Children:
![growing up poor in america growing up poor in america](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71PqYK-nUqL._RI_.jpg)
These figures illustrate why it's essential for advocates and policymakers to understand the long-term impact of child poverty and the factors - like parental education and race/ethnicity - that appear to distinguish low-income and poor children from their more economically advantaged peers." "The anxiety, depression, and constant stress of being financially vulnerable leaves a lasting mark on children as they grow to adulthood, affecting earnings potential and health outcomes. "The fact that we have nearly 300,000 more children living near poverty today than at the height of the Great Recession is concerning," added NCCP director of Family Economic Security Heather Koball. According to NCCP researchers, the number of children in low-income families increased slightly from 42 percent in 2009 to 43 percent in 2015, and the percent of poor children in the U.S. Families with earnings less than twice the poverty threshold are considered low income and include poor families (i.e., $48,072 for a family of four with two children in 2015). NCCP defines a poor household as one where incomes are below the federal poverty threshold (i.e., $24,036 for a family of four with two children in 2015). It's imperative that they do so with a real understanding of the disadvantages millions of Americans face from very young ages and what growing up poor looks like in America."Īvailable online at, the Basic Facts About Low-Income Children fact sheets illustrate the severity of economic instability faced by low-income and poor children throughout the United States. In the coming weeks, hundreds of new leaders will take the helm at agencies responsible for implementing policies that touch the lives of poor children and affect their odds of success in life. "But being a child in a low-income or poor family doesn't happen by chance, and neither should our approach to alleviating child poverty. "While food assistance, public health insurance, and other programs have certainly had a mitigating effect on poverty for many families, the fact remains that in the United States young children have close to a one in two chance of living on the brink of poverty," said Renée Wilson-Simmons, DrPH, NCCP director.