For all the back-patting exuberance over manipulated record high stock prices and record periods of illusory job gains, it appears the administration and its Obamanomics forgot one important thing - the children! As USA Today reports [3], a higher percentage of children live in poverty now than did during the Great Recession, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation released Tuesday [4].
“Where you grew up is similar to where you end up when you’re an adult,” Bloome said. “That helps perpetuate racial segregation.”
[5]
About 22% of children in the U.S. lived below the poverty line in 2013, compared with 18% in 2008, the foundation's 2015 Kids Count Data Book reported. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Human and Health Service's official poverty line was $23,624 for a family with two adults and two children.
[6]
“The fact that it’s happening is disturbing on lots of levels,” said Laura Speer, the associate director for policy reform and advocacy at the Casey Foundation, a non-profit based in Baltimore. “Those kids often don’t have the access to the things they need to thrive.” The foundation says its mission is to help low-income children in the U.S. by providing grants and advocating for policies that promote economic opportunity.
As AECF details, [4]
Millions of low-income U.S. families with children face considerable daily obstacles that can threaten the entire family’s stability and lead to lifelong difficulties for their kids. A family-supporting job that provides a steady source of parental income and opportunities for advancement is critical to moving children out of poverty.
[7]
But having a job, even one that pays enough to support a family, is only part of the solution. Working parents need access to paid time off to adequately care for themselves and their children. Access to affordable, high-quality, flexible child care is critical for all working parents with young children, but the need is especially great for those parents working in low-paying jobs with irregular, often erratic work hours.
Even several years after the recession ended, the number of children living in low-income working families continues to increase. In 2013, one in four children, 18.7 million, lived in a low-income working family in the United States. This is 1.7 million more than in 2008. And, 27 percent of children in low-income working families are younger than age 6.
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