Poverty is linked with negative conditions such as substandard housing, homelessness, inadequate nutrition and food insecurity, inadequate child care, lack of access to health care, unsafe neighborhoods, and underresourced schools which adversely impact our nation’s children. Poverty impacts children within their various contexts at home, in school, and in their neighborhoods and communities. ![]() Psychological research has demonstrated that living in poverty has a wide range of negative effects on the physical and mental health and well-being of our nation’s children. Single-mother headed households are more prevalent among African American and Hispanic families contributing to ethnic disparities in poverty. A staggering 50.9 percent of female-headed Hispanic households with children below 18 years of age live in poverty (48.8 percent for Blacks 31.6 percent Asian, and 32.1 percent non-Hispanic White). The poverty rate for children living in female-householder families (no spouse present) was 42.2 percent in 2010 7 in 10 children living with a single mother are poor or low-income, compared to less than a third (32 percent) of children living in other types of families. The Population Reference Bureau (2010) reports that 24 percent of the 75 million children under age 18 in the U.S. It is reported that child poverty in immigrant families is more closely related to low-wage work and barriers to valuable work supports. have a foreign-born parent, and 4.2 million children of immigrant parents are poor. The National Center for Children in Poverty reports that 17.2 million children living in the U.S. The poverty rate for Black children was 38.2 percent 32.3 percent for Hispanic children 17 percent for non-Hispanic White children and 13 percent for Asian children. Racial and ethnic disparities in poverty rates persist among children. Child poverty rose from 20.7 percent in 2009, to 22 percent in 2010, and this is the highest it has ever been since 1993. Census data reveals that from 2009 to 2010, the total number of children under age 18 living in poverty increased to 16.4 million from 15.5 million. These disparities are associated with the historical marginalization of ethnic minority groups and entrenched barriers to good education and jobs. While non-Hispanic Whites still constitute the largest single group of Americans living in poverty, ethnic minority groups are overrepresented (27.4 percent African-American 28.4 percent American Indian and Alaskan Native 26.6 percent Hispanic, and 12.1 percent Asian and Pacific Islander compared with 9.9 percent non-Hispanic White). The percentage of people in deep poverty was 13.5 percent of all Blacks and 10.9 percent of all Hispanics, compared to 5.8 percent of Asians and 4.3 percent of Whites. Over 15 percent of the population fell below this threshold in 2010. In 2010, the poverty threshold, or poverty line, was $22,314 for a family of four. ![]() In 2000, the poverty rate for individuals was 12.2 percent and for families was 9.3 percent. In 2008, 13.2 percent (39.8 million) Americans lived in relative poverty. poverty rate rose to 15.1 percent (46.2 million) in 2010, an increase from 14.3 percent (approximately 43.6 million) in 2009 and the highest level since 1993. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012), the unemployment rate is 8.3 percent as of January 2012.ĭespite the data showing a decline of 0.2 percent from December 2011, the unemployment rate is still high by all accounts, having doubled since the beginning of the recession in December 2007. The ongoing economic crisis has negatively affected the livelihoods of millions of Americans. ![]() What are the current poverty and unemployment rates for Americans?
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