1 in 6 US kids are in families below the poverty line

Written by Callie Freitag, Ph.D. Candidate in Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington

CC BY-ND ^[1] In the United States, children are more likely to experience poverty ^[2] than people over 18. In 2020, about 1 in 6 kids, 16% of all children ^[3], were living in families with incomes below the official poverty line – an income threshold the government set that year at about US$26,500 for a family of four ^[4]. Only 10% of Americans ages 18 to 64 and 9% of those 65 and up were experiencing poverty, according to the most recent data available. The official child poverty rate ticks down when the economy grows and up during downturns ^[5]. It stood at 17% in 1967 – just about the same as in 2020. In many recent years the rate hovered even higher – around 20%. Another way to measure poverty Researchers calculate the official poverty rate ^[6] by adding up a household’s income and comparing it with a threshold of what is needed to survive. The government has calculated this rate the same way since the 1960s ^[7]. One of its shortcomings is that it excludes several sources of income ^[8], including tax credits and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ^[9], which are intended to reduce poverty. In 2011, the government began to calculate an alternative metric: the supplemental poverty measure ^[10]. It includes SNAP and tax credits. It also uses thresholds based on the cost of living in different areas of the country. For a family of four, this threshold ^[11] currently ranges from $24,000 to $35,000, depending on where a family lives and whether they own or rent housing. According to this alternative measure, 10% of children were living in poverty in 2020, the lowest rate ever recorded. Depending on which measure you use ^[12], either 7 million or 11.7 million U.S. children lived in poverty in 2020. By both metrics, poverty is higher for children of color ^[13]. The official poverty rate ^[14] for Black children stood at 26%, and 23% for Hispanic children, while for white, non-Hispanic children it was 10%. Before and after 2020 Both child poverty rates had been declining before the COVID-19 pandemic. The official rate dipped to 14%^[15] in 2019 from 21% five years earlier. It shot back up to 16% in 2020, when the pandemic compounded economic hardships for many families. The supplemental measure of child poverty tells a more complete story. Steps the government took during the pandemic, including its series of economic impact payments ^[16], the child tax credit expansion ^[17] and a boost in SNAP benefits ^[18], led the supplemental child poverty rate to keep declining even during the economic crisis. The government will release its child poverty data for 2022 in September 2023 ^[19]. But some researchers at Columbia University have monthly data suggesting that child poverty rose steeply ^[20] after the expiration of the pandemic-era programs. They estimate that 3.7 million more children were living in poverty ^[21] in January 2022 than in December 2021 because of the expiration of the child tax credit expansion ^[22]. References^{^} CC BY-ND (creativecommons.org)^{^} children are more likely to experience poverty (www.census.gov)^{^} 16% of all children (www.census.gov)^{^} US$26,500 for a family of four (www.census.gov)^{^} ticks down when the economy grows and up during downturns (doi.org)^{^} calculate the official poverty rate (www.census.gov)^{^} since the 1960s (www.census.gov)^{^} excludes several sources of income (www.census.gov)^{^} Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (theconversation.com)^{^} the supplemental poverty measure (www.census.gov)^{^} this threshold (www.census.gov)^{^} which measure you use (www.ssa.gov)^{^} higher for children of color (www.census.gov)^{^} official poverty rate (www.census.gov)^{^} official rate dipped to 14% (www.census.gov)^{^} economic impact payments (www.census.gov)^{^} child tax credit expansion (ideas.repec.org)^{^} boost in SNAP benefits (www.ers.usda.gov)^{^} September 2023 (cps.ipums.org)^{^} child poverty rose steeply (www.povertycenter.columbia.edu)^{^} 3.7 million more children were living in poverty (www.povertycenter.columbia.edu)^{^} expiration of the child tax credit expansion (www.nbcnews.com)

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