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Young child poverty in the United States: Analyzing trends in poverty and the role of anti-poverty programs using the Supplemental Poverty Measure

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  • Pac, Jessica
  • Nam, Jaehyun
  • Waldfogel, Jane
  • Wimer, Chris

Abstract

Between 1968 and 2013, the poverty rate of young children age 0 to 5years fell by nearly one third, in large part because of the role played by anti-poverty programs. However, young children in the U.S. still face a much higher rate of poverty than do older children in the U.S. They also continue to have a much higher poverty rate than do young children in other developed countries around the world. In this paper, we provide a detailed analysis of trends in poverty and the role of anti-poverty programs in addressing poverty among young children, using an improved measure of poverty, the Supplemental Poverty Measure. We examine changes over time and the current status, both for young children overall and for key subgroups (by child age, and by child race/ethnicity). Our findings can be summarized in three key points. First, poverty among all young children age 0–5years has fallen since the beginning of our time series; but absent the safety net, today's poverty rate among young children would be identical to or higher than it was in 1968. Second, the safety net plays an increasing role in reducing the poverty of young children, especially among Black non-Hispanic children, whose poverty rate would otherwise be 20.8 percentage points higher in 2013. Third, the composition of support has changed from virtually all cash transfers in 1968, to about one third each of cash, credit and in-kind transfers today.

Suggested Citation

  • Pac, Jessica & Nam, Jaehyun & Waldfogel, Jane & Wimer, Chris, 2017. "Young child poverty in the United States: Analyzing trends in poverty and the role of anti-poverty programs using the Supplemental Poverty Measure," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 35-49.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:74:y:2017:i:c:p:35-49
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.01.022
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    Cited by:

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    2. Cai, Julie Y. & Wimer, Christopher & Berger, Lonnie, 2021. "Intra-Year Employment Instability and Economic Wellbeing Among Urban Households: Mitigating Effects of the Social Safety Net," SocArXiv vxtdq, Center for Open Science.
    3. Elizabeth Ananat & Benjamin Glasner & Christal Hamilton & Zachary Parolin, 2021. "Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit on Employment Outcomes: Evidence from Real-World Data," Poverty and Social Policy Brief 20414, Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Columbia University.
    4. Achille Lemmi & Donatella Grassi & Alessandra Masi & Nicoletta Pannuzi & Andrea Regoli, 2019. "Methodological Choices and Data Quality Issues for Official Poverty Measures: Evidences from Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(1), pages 299-330, January.
    5. Cai, Julie Y. & Wimer, Christopher & Berger, Lawrence & Maury, Matthew, 2023. "Intra-year employment instability and economic well-being among urban households: Mitigating effects of the social safety net," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    6. Christopher Wimer & Liana Fox & Irwin Garfinkel & Neeraj Kaushal & JaeHyun Nam & Jane Waldfogel, 2021. "Trends in the Economic Wellbeing of Unmarried-Parent Families with Children: New Estimates Using an Improved Measure of Poverty," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(6), pages 1253-1276, December.
    7. Zachary Parolin & Elizabeth Ananat & Sophie Collyer & Megan Curran & Christoper Wimer, 2021. "The Initial Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit on Material Hardship," Poverty and Social Policy Brief 20413, Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Columbia University.
    8. Mostert, Cyprian M., 2021. "The impact of the school feeding programme on the education and health outcomes of South African children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Waring, Melody K. & Meyer, Daniel R., 2020. "Welfare, work, and single mothers: The Great Recession and income packaging strategies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).

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