20% US children are poor

Some 14.7 million US children, or 20 per cent of America's juvenile population, are poor according to a a child welfare study to be published Wednesday.

That's an increase of 2.5 million children from 2000, when 17 per cent of the nation's youth lived in low-income homes, according tothe Annie E. Casey Foundation study that measured child poverty between 2000 and 2009.

In the foundation's first examination of the impact of the recession on the nation's children, researchers concluded that low-income children will likely suffer academically, economically and socially long after their parents have recovered.

The study found that poverty rose in 38 out of 50 US states and that Nevada had the highest rate of children whose parents are unemployed and underemployed. The state is also home to the most children affected by foreclosures — 13 per cent of all Nevada babies, toddlers and teenagers have been kicked out of their homes because of an unpaid mortgage, the study found.

The annual survey monitored by policy makers across the nation concludes that children from low-income families are more likely to be raised in unstable environments and change schools than their wealthier peers. As a result, they are less likely to be gainfully employed as adults.

There are other social costs. Economically disadvantaged children can result in reduced economic output, higher health expenditures and increased criminal justice costs for society, the survey concludes. The research is based on data from many sources, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, National Delinquency Survey and US Census Bureau.

The report found some bright spots.

In the two decades since researchers began compiling the annual report, infant mortalities, child and teen deaths and high school dropout rates have declined. But the number of unhealthy babies have increased, and there were far more children living in low-income families.

Programs such as food stamps, unemployment insurance and foreclosure meditation have acted like a dam against the flood of poverty, experts said, but that assistance has been threatened by federal and state government budget cuts.

Mississippi kept its overall last place ranking in child welfare for the 10th consecutive year, according to the survey. It was closely trailed by neighboring Louisiana and Alabama, a nod to the poverty that plagues southern states. Nevada ranked 40th overall, its worst ranking in 10 years, largely because of its economic decline.

The rankings are determined by a state's achievement in 10 indicators that reflect child poverty, such as undernourished infants, infant mortalities, teen births and children in single-parent families. The top state for children was New Hampshire, ahead of Minnesota, Massachusetts and Vermont.

Mississippi had the most children living in poverty, with 31 per cent of its youth getting by on meager family budgets. New Hampshire had the smallest population of low-income children at 11 per cent. The federal poverty level this year is $22,350 a year for a family of four, but child advocates claim that figure should be higher.

Mississippi's rankings were least affected by the recession, only because it long ago secured its worst-case standing. Overall, Mississippi ranked last in seven of the survey's child well-being indicators.

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