Children in Poverty in United States

United States

Families with incomes below the federal poverty level may struggle to meet their children’s basic needs. Growing up in poverty can have negative effects on children’s physical health, development and educational achievement. Children who come from low-income families or neighborhoods are more likely to have health problems such as low birth weight, asthma, obesity and high blood pressure. Poverty increases the risk of exposure to environmental hazards and violence. Children living in poverty are more likely to experience adverse childhood experiences and the negative health outcomes associated with chronic stress and trauma. 

Living in poverty can affect a child’s academic success and future economic opportunities. Childhood poverty costs the United States an estimated $1.03 trillion annually, factoring in lost potential earnings and associated medical costs. The U.S. has one of the highest child poverty rates among industrialized countries.

According to America’s Health Rankings analysis, the prevalence of poverty is higher among Black children compared with Asian and white children. Additional research shows that poverty is also higher among:

• Children of single mothers compared with children living in two-parent or single-father households. 
• Children ages 0-5 compared with older children.
• Children living in the South compared with children in other areas of the U.S. 
• Children in immigrant families compared with children in nonimmigrant families.

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 poverty-alleviation program in the U.S., provides a tax credit to employed families and individuals living in poverty. 
• The child tax credit, created to help offset the cost of raising children each year, provides a tax credit to families based on wages earned and the number of children in the household. In 2024, the child tax credit assisted 5.6 million children and lifted approximately 2.4 million children above the poverty line. 
• 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. Research shows that the program has helped reduce the prevalence of low birth weight and preterm births and increase breastfeeding rates.
• 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 to low-income families, as well as services to help families learn social-emotional and healthy relationship skills and build more supportive environments for children to grow and learn.
• 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. 

Interventions like these are most effective when combined with other policies and programs. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has created a set of policy package proposals that could cut the child poverty rate in the U.S. in half by building on existing programs with proven effectiveness like EITC and SNAP.

It is also important to address the social and emotional effects of childhood poverty. Research suggests that children and families may benefit from interventions that use the two-generation approach, which promotes family resilience by combining support and education programs for parents with early childhood intervention programs to create a stronger, total family experience.

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

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