More than 15 million children in America are poor, but they live in working families. A disproportionate number are Black and Latino. Poor children lag behind their peers in many ways beyond income: They are less healthy, trail in emotional and intellectual development, and are less likely to graduate from high school. Poor children also are likely to become the poor parents of the future. Every year that we keep children in poverty costs our nation half a trillion dollars in lost productivity, poorer health and increased crime.

Our vision is to end child poverty. We must invest in high quality education for every child, livable wages for families, income safety nets like job training and job creation, the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits, and work supports like child care and health coverage. We also work with partners to educate families about benefits for which they are eligible.

Data on Child Poverty

CDF’s new report, The State of America's Children® 2011, a compilation of the most recent and reliable national and state-by-state data on key child indicators, including child poverty. The Child Poverty section of the report includes state data on the number and percentage of children living in poverty and extreme poverty and the child poverty breakdown by race/ethnicity and geography. This section of the report also includes poverty trends among children over the past 50 years and poverty rates of children in young families by the educational attainment of the family householder. A total of 15.5 million children—or one in every five children in America—lived in poverty in 2009, an increase of nearly four million children since 2000 and the largest single year increase since the data was first collected.

Carsey Institute Report on Child Poverty

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute have released a report which details the demographic breakdowns of child poverty in America. The report finds that young children of color in rural areas or single parent families are the most vulnerable to the effects of poverty. Read the full report here.

New FRAC Survey Shows Households With Children Struggle to Afford Food

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) recently released findings from a survey which paint a clear portrait of the struggle faced by many families to afford food for their children. The survey found that in 2009, nearly one in four households with children struggled to afford the food they needed.  Nationally, nearly one in five Americans (18.5 percent) has lacked the money to buy the food they needed at some point in the last year.  To read the full report, click here.

Access to nutritious food is a matter of social justice. As CDF President Marian Wright Edelman noted in her recent Child Watch® column Urban Food Deserts Threaten Children’s Health, failing to ensure our children receive better nutrition will cost our nation dearly.   Ensuring children and adults access to nutritious food is one obvious step we must take as legislators struggle to reform our nation's health care system and contain its skyrocketing costs.

For more research on food insecurity in the United States, see the 2008 USDA report Household Food Security in the United States, or The Public Health Effects of Food Deserts Workshop Summary from the National Academy of Sciences.

Investing in Early Childhood to Reduce Child Poverty

Every 34 seconds, a child is born poor in America. Poverty can disrupt children's development and negatively impact their educational advancement, their ability to lead productive lives and become responsible citizens. And yet millions of young children feel the effects of poverty every day. Find out more about the effects of poverty on young children and how you can lend your voice for America's most vulnerable.

Billions Lost to Predatory Commercial Tax Preparers

A new CDF report, "Avoiding the Pitfalls of Refund Anticipation Loans," finds that in tax year 2006, low-income families lost $3.1 billion of their Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits to high-interest, short-term loans, tax preparation fees and other financial products issued by commercial tax preparers. The EITC, is a refundable federal tax credit for low- and modest-income workers, is one of the most effective tools for lifting families out of poverty. The report also provides city, county and state breakdowns of dollars lost to predatory tax preparers and provides ways individuals, communities and policy makers can take action to lift children out of poverty by helping their working families keep more of the benefits they’ve earned.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Child Poverty Resources Available in Your State and Community

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama helps alleviate the stress on families and communities by investing in improvements for a range of needed services and supports, including those services that will help children in poverty.  Learn what is available in your state and community and how to use these funds to invest in child poverty by visiting the Child Support Enforcement, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),and Unemployment Assistance and Workforce Development sections of our guide, The New Economic Recovery Law: Resources to Help Children and the Economy.

Fact Sheet: Child Poverty in America

Learn more about child poverty in America with this primer (.pdf) that provides information on the definition of poverty; basic facts about child poverty; how poverty affects children's health, food security, early development, home and family environment, education, and crime; the economic and social costs of child poverty; and public programs that combat child poverty.