When was the last time you heard childhood poverty in the US being mentioned in the mainstream news? Maybe you saw mention of it in a newspaper. Maybe NPR discussed it. The point is, this is an issue that has not been covered in any extensive detail and that
must change.
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, an affiliate of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, nearly 16 million children (that's 22% of children in this country) are living in poverty today. How can this be justified in one of the world's wealthiest nations? It simply can't.
How is poverty defined in this case?
There are two recent reports that describe how poverty has been measured. In 2012, UNICEF published a report on the issue. In a recent fact check by Politifact (which ranked Bernie Sanders' stated claim as "Mostly False"), it stated that the United States ranked 34th out of 35 countries with childhood poverty in 2012, besting only Romania in percentage. Back in 2012, the childhood poverty rate was 23.1%.
The Washington Post references a 2014 UNICEF report, which intends to analyze the effect of the recession on childhood poverty. The article states that there are only 5 countries with higher childhood poverty rates than the US: Greece, Latvia, Spain, Israel, and Mexico.
There is a difference in how these reports define the relative poverty line. The 2014 report defines relative poverty as living below 60% the 2008 median national income, while the 2012 report defines it as living below 50% of the median income.
The National Center for Children in Poverty describes poverty as:
unable to achieve a minimum, decent standard of living that allows them to participate fully in mainstream society. One component of poverty is material hardship...To achieve a minimum but decent standard of living, families need more than material resources; they also need “human and social capital.” Human and social capital include education, basic life skills, and employment experience, as well as less tangible resources such as social networks and access to civic institutions. These non-material resources provide families with the means to get by, and ultimately, to get ahead. Human and social capital help families improve their earnings potential and accumulate assets, gain access to safe neighborhoods and high-quality services (such as medical care, schooling), and expand their networks and social connections...Some families experience hard times for brief spells while a small minority experience chronic poverty. For some, the greatest challenge is inadequate financial resources, whether insufficient income to meet daily expenses or the necessary assets (savings, a home) to get ahead. For others, economic hardship is compounded by social isolation.
What is the profile of the typical child living in poverty?
According to the
NCCP, in 2013, 44% of children (approximately 31.8 million children) lived in low-income families and 22% (15.8 million) lived in poor families. Take into account that
low income refers to living at or above 200% of the federal poverty threshold (FPT) ,
poor refers to living below 100% of the FPT, and
near poor refers to living between 100% and 199% of the FPT. The low income group includes both the poor and near poor.
The NCCP also reports poverty by race. Whites made up approximately 37% of all low-income families, followed by Hispanics at 34%. Hispanics made up approximately 35% of all poor families, followed by Whites at 32%.
By region, we see a fairly small range. NCCP reports that 37% of children in the Northeast, 42% in the Midwest, 48% in the South, and 45% in the West live in poverty. This amounts to a total of 31.9 children living in low income families.
According to the Medicaid website,
Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide health coverage to more than 31 million children, including half of all low-income children in the U.S.
The
Census Bureau reports that one in five children are recipients of food stamps, which equates to
45% of all SNAP recipients.
Yet despite these numbers, the GOP (and a select few Democrats) chose to rely on the myth that there is rampant abuse and voted to cut these two programs. Fact: the vast majority of improper government assistance payments are due to unintentional errors on part of the government, NOT fraud. Medicaid's improper payment rate is only 6.7% and SNAP's is only 3.2%, failing to live up to that widespread abuse myth.
We are one of the world's wealthiest nations. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this: We can give corporations tax breaks, help construct stadiums via taxpayer money, and de-regulate essential consumer protections that favor big financial entities. Yet when it comes to investing in education, healthcare, and essential lifelines that children depend on, a hefty portion of our nation starts foaming at the mouth and suddenly does not want their taxes going towards these expenditures. I have one phrase to describe this: F**KED UP BEYOND ALL REASON. It's a disgrace and it needs to end. Children are our most vulnerable group in society and there is ZERO justification why they need to suffer for the sins of others. As Bobby Kennedy once said, "I believe that, as long as there is plenty, poverty is evil!"