Child Poverty Tops 50 Percent in 14 U.S. Counties; CDF Ranks Worst Areas for Child Poverty Nationwide 6/4/2002
From: Gigi Hinton of the Children's Defense Fund, 202-662-3609, ghinton@childrensdefense.org WASHINGTON, June 4 -- New data released from the 2000 Census shows that some counties in the United States have an astounding 3 out of 5 children living in poverty. The Children's Defense Fund reveals this alarming discovery in its latest child poverty rankings for America's cities, states, and counties. "Americans tend to picture poor children living in big cities," said CDF Founder and President Marian Wright Edelman. "But there are 38 counties with child poverty rates higher than in the poorest big cities, virtually all of them rural counties." The counties with the highest child poverty rates included: Buffalo County, S.D........61.8 percent of its children poor Zieback County, S.D........61.2 percent Shannon County, S.D........61.0 percent Starr County, Texas........59.5 percent Todd County, S.D...........57.7 percent East Carroll Parish, La....56.8 percent Owsley County, Ky..........56.4 percent McDowell County, W.Va......53.0 percent Madison Parish County, La..52.6 percent Holmes County, Miss........52.4 percent CDF also ranked all U.S. cities with populations of 100,000 or more. Brownsville, Texas and Hartford, Conn., topped the list of big cities with high child poverty rates in the 2000 Census. Among big cities, CDF found: 45.3 percent of children in Brownsville, Texas were poor 41.3 percent in Hartford, Conn. 40.5 percent in New Orleans, La. 40.5 percent in Providence, R.I. 39.3 percent in Atlanta, Ga. 38.7 percent in Buffalo, N.Y. 38.5 percent in Miami, Fla. 38.2 percent in Gary, Ind. 38.0 percent in Cleveland, Ohio 38.0 percent in Laredo, Texas Some of the rankings were a surprise. Providence, R.I., is now tied with New Orleans, La., as the 3rd poorest big city for children, up from the 25th poorest in the 1990 Census. In the previous census, Brownsville, Texas was too small to appear on the list of big cities. Among states, CDF found that in nine states and the District of Columbia one in five children is poor. Mississippi had the worst showing (with 27.0 percent of its children in poverty) followed by Louisiana (26.6 percent), New Mexico (25.0 percent), and West Virginia (24.3 percent). These states were closely followed by Arkansas (21.8 percent), Alabama (21.5 percent), Kentucky (20.8 percent), Texas (20.5 percent) and New York (20 percent). The District of Columbia had an even higher child poverty rate than any of the states (31.7 percent). "Congress has the opportunity right now to address child poverty by approving welfare and child care legislation that better helps families support their children. The goal is to help families escape poverty, not just escape from the welfare rolls," said Edelman. CDF recommends increasing supports to help families work, including adding $20 billion to the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to provide child care to an additional 2 million children. These proposals are part of the comprehensive Act to Leave No Child Behind (S.940 and H.R. 1990). CDF credits the booming economy with reducing child poverty rates nationwide in the 1990s, but these lower rates are a product of rising wages and the lowest unemployment rate in 31 years -- both of which have since disappeared. The recession that began in 2001 already has wiped out half of the earlier gains in the parental employment rate. "The economy has done about as much as it's going to do for child poverty and most low-income parents are working as hard as they can. The job now is to make work pay so parents can move their children out of poverty. We need more child care, better job training, and targeted cash support," said Edelman. Research has shown that poor children are at far greater risk than non-poor children of experiencing low birth weight, stunted growth, lead poisoning, expulsion from school, being kept back a grade, and dropping out. CDF obtained and analyzed the embargoed Census 2000 data in its role as an official Census Information Center. A complete ranking of all 50 states, the largest cities, and 38 worst counties is available at http://www.childrensdefense.org. For more information contact: Gigi Hinton, 202-662-3609, ghinton@childrensdefense.org --- Big Cities (100,000 or More Population) With Highest and Lowest Child Poverty Rates in 1999 -- TEN WORST Persons Under 18 Number Percent Rank City, State.........Total.......Poor.....Poor.....(1-lowest) Brownsville, Texas..48,000......21,732...45.3.....245 Hartford, Conn......35,624......14,701...41.3.....244 New Orleans, La.....127,566.....51,707...40.5.....242 (tied) Providence, R.I.....44,547......18,045...40.5.....242 (tied) Atlanta, Ga.........90,755......35,624...39.3.....241 Buffalo, N.Y........75,530......29,200...38.7.....240 Miami, Fla..........77,285......29,770...38.5.....239 Gary, Ind...........29,787......11,387...38.2.....238 Cleveland, Ohio.....133,335.....50,629...38.0.....236 (tied) Laredo, Texas.......62,205......23,660...38.0.....236 (tied) -- TEN BEST Persons Under 18 Number Percent Rank City, State...........Total......Poor....Poor.....(1-lowest) Sunnyvale, Calif......26,490.....1,571.....5.9......10 (tied) Bellevue, Wash........22,838.....1,353.....5.9......10 (tied) Scottsdale, Ariz......38,457.....2,177.....5.7......9 Pembroke Pines, Fla...34,448.....1,883.....5.5......8 Thousand Oaks, Calif..29,726.....1,616.....5.4......6 Westminster, Colo.....26,681.....1,440.....5.4......6 Plano, Texas..........62,981.....3,082.....4.9......5 Overland Park, Kans...37,993.....1,209.....3.2......3 (tied) Livonia, Mich.........23,855.....761.......3.2......3 (tied) Gilbert, Ariz.........37,239.....1,173.....3.1......2 Naperville, Ill.......40,818.....952.......2.3......1 Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000. Ranking by CDF --- States and the District of Columbia, by Child Poverty, 1999 Persons Under 18 Number Percent Total........Poor.........Poor...Rank United States...70,925,261...11,746,858...16.6...-- D.C.............111,535......35,367.......31.7...51 Mississippi.....763,754......206,450......27.0...50 Louisiana.......1,200,361....319,670......26.6...49 New Mexico......500,345......125,218......25.0...48 West Virginia...394,818......96,096.......24.3...47 Arkansas........669,721......146,321......21.8...46 Alabama.........1,108,727....237,881......21.5...45 Kentucky........978,235......203,547......20.8...44 Texas...........5,797,203....1,189,935....20.5...43 New York........4,581,111....915,710......20.0...42 Oklahoma........875,348......171,929......19.6...41 California......9,032,977....1,757,100....19.5...40 Arizona.........1,337,519....257,710......19.3...39 Montana.........225,512......42,912.......19.0...38 South Carolina..994,348......187,275......18.8...37 Tennessee.......1,375,510....247,397......18.0...36 Florida.........3,566,615....627,997......17.6...35 South Dakota....198,003......33,965.......17.2...34 Georgia.........2,132,401....365,406......17.1...33 Rhode Island....243,838......41,162.......16.9...32 North Carolina..1,932,359....311,053......16.1...31 Missouri........1,400,833....220,556......15.7...30 Pennsylvania....2,869,781....421,745......14.7...28 Oregon..........825,945......121,460......14.7...28 Wyoming.........125,865......18,215.......14.5...27 Ohio............2,838,338....408,685......14.4...26 Illinois........3,187,490....456,901......14.3...24 (tied) Idaho...........362,632......51,868.......14.3...24 (tied) Hawaii..........288,057......40,542.......14.1...23 North Dakota....158,651......22,163.......14.0...21 Nevada..........499,268......69,777.......14.0...21 Michigan........2,545,394....352,935......13.9...20 Washington......1,481,680....202,891......13.7...18 Maine...........294,132......40,171.......13.7...18 Virginia........1,707,909....209,532......12.3...15 (tied) Nebraska........441,774......54,477.......12.3...15 (tied) Delaware........190,810......23,405.......12.3...15 (tied) Indiana.........1,543,014....187,801......12.2...14 Massachusetts...1,474,716....177,383......12.0...12 (tied) Kansas..........701,255......83,957.......12.0...12 (tied) Alaska..........186,793......22,041.......11.8...11 Vermont.........145,248......16,595.......11.4...10 Colorado........1,080,022....121,614......11.3...9 Wisconsin.......1,342,950....150,166......11.2...8 New Jersey......2,055,089....227,754......11.1...7 Iowa............720,127......79,247.......11.0...6 Maryland........1,330,780....141,877......10.7...5 Connecticut.....828,171......85,908.......10.4...4 Utah............708,295......71,765.......10.1...3 Minnesota.......1,266,622....121,691......9.6...2 New Hampshire...303,380......23,635.......7.8...1 Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000. Ranking by CDF --- 38 Counties Have Higher Child Poverty Rates "Than the Poorest Big Cities, 1999" Rural or Total Persons No. in Pct in County, State......Metropolitan.....Under 18....Poverty...Poverty Buffalo, S.D.............Rural.......840........519......61.8 Ziebach, S.D.............Rural.......1,021......625......61.2 Shannon, S.D.............Rural.......5,395......3,292....61.0 Starr, Texas.............Rural.......19,948.....11,875...59.5 Todd, S.D................Rural.......3,827......2,210....57.7 East Carroll Parish, La..Rural.......2,830......1,607....56.8 Owsley, Ky...............Rural.......1,180......666......56.4 McDowell, W.Va...........Rural.......6,279......3,325....53.0 Madison Parish, La.......Rural.......4,131......2,172....52.6 Holmes, Miss.............Rural.......6,839......3,583....52.4 Brooks, Texas............Rural.......2,481......1,286....51.8 Wolfe, Ky................Rural.......1,807......930......51.5 Humphreys, Miss..........Rural.......3,613......1,825....50.5 Sharkey, Miss............Rural.......2,174......1,095....50.4 Perry, Ala...............Rural.......3,469......1,708....49.2 Wilkinson, Miss..........Rural.......2,641......1,300....49.2 Zavala, Texas............Rural.......3,902......1,911....49.0 Bennett, S.D.............Rural.......1,254......612......48.8 Corson, S.D..............Rural.......1,481......722......48.8 Wilcox, Ala..............Rural.......3,975......1,928....48.5 Tensas Parish, La........Rural.......1,734......838......48.3 Leflore, Miss............Rural.......11,219.....5,406....48.2 Allendale, S.C...........Rural.......2,949......1,417....48.1 Clay, Ky.................Rural.......5,961......2,852....47.8 Sumter, Ala..............Rural.......4,256......2,028....47.7 Edwards, Texas...........Rural.......607........288......47.4 Luna, N.M................Rural.......7,434......3,501....47.1 Jackson, S.D.............Rural.......1,038......481......46.3 Zapata, Texas............Rural.......3,983......1,839....46.2 Coahoma, Miss............Rural.......9,910......4,564....46.1 Magoffin, Ky.............Rural.......3,535......1,627....46.0 Jefferson, Miss..........Rural.......2,745......1,263....46.0 Mellette, S.D............Rural.......719........331......46.0 Hidalgo, Texas....Metropolitan.......198,744....90,831...45.7 Webster, W.Va............Rural.......2,205......1,008....45.7 Phillips, Ark............Rural.......8,428......3,845....45.6 Hancock, Ga..............Rural.......2,432......1,105....45.4 Martin, Ky...............Rural.......3,501......1,591....45.4 Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000. Ranking by CDF Data in all tables are from "2000 Census of Population, Profile Sample Data" Poverty of Persons and Related Children Table DP-3. Profile of Selected Economic Characteristics Available on the internet at http://www.census.gov. | |