Children in Poverty

Children in Poverty in United States

United States

Families with incomes below the federal poverty level may struggle to consistently meet the basic needs of their children. Exposure to chronic stress, including unreliable access to food, health care and stable housing, may impair the development of children in poverty and can affect their health at any stage: 

• Birth: Mothers living in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to give birth prematurely and have low birthweight babies.
• Childhood: Obesity, asthma and emergency room visits are more common among children living in poverty compared with those not living in poverty. Impoverished and low-income children often have greater need for health services, particularly for mental health.
• Adolescence: As impoverished children grow up, they are more likely to engage in risky or unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking cigarettes, and less likely to complete high school.
• Adulthood: Obesity, risk factors for cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and premature mortality are all associated with low socioeconomic status during childhood. Childhood poverty has also been linked to difficulty with emotional regulation that lasts into adulthood regardless of changes in income status, and is associated with development of physical and mental health issues later in life.

Living in poverty affects a child’s ability to succeed in school and may impact potential future earnings. The cost of childhood poverty in the United States was estimated at $1.03 trillion annually, factoring in lost potential earnings and associated medical costs.

The prevalence of poverty is higher among:

• Non-Hispanic Black and American Indian/Alaska Native children, who both have prevalence rates more than 3 times higher than those of non-Hispanic white and Asian children.
• Children of single mothers compared with children who live in two-parent households or in single-father households. 
• Children ages 0-5 compared with children ages 12-17.

Recent innovations to mitigate the adverse effects of childhood poverty utilize the two-generation approach, which promotes family resilience by combining support and education programs for parents with early childhood intervention programs into a stronger, whole family experience.

Many government programs and community interventions exist to help reduce the number of children in poverty and support low-income families:

• The earned income tax credit (EITC), the largest U.S. poverty-alleviation program, provides a tax credit to employed families and individuals living in poverty. Research shows the benefits of the program include decreased prevalence of low birthweight and preterm birth and increases in breastfeeding. One study calculated that an annual $3,000 from the EITC for a family with a child under 5 will result in an average 19% increase in future earnings for the child.
• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as food stamps, provides nutrition benefits to families in need.
• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides food and nutritional support specifically for pregnant and postpartum women and children. The WIC program has been associated with a lower prevalence of low birthweight, with greater gains among women with low education.
• The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides free or low-cost meals to students at school.
• Child First is a comprehensive program that provides financial, housing and food assistance and early childhood interventions for low-income families. 
• Medicaid provides health care to low-income adults, pregnant women and children.
• Universal basic income programs can provide those living in poverty with regular cash transfers to meet basic needs regardless of employment status, age or other restrictive conditions. 

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine proposed four policy packages that would reduce child poverty by 24%-52% while using existing policy options to maximize effectiveness.

While not specific to children, reducing the proportion of those living in poverty is a Healthy People 2030 economic stability objective.

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