More kids in poverty now than during recession
By Jennifer Calfas, USA Today
A higher percentage of children live in poverty now than did during the Great Recession, according to anew report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation released Tuesday.
About 22 percent of children in the U.S. lived below the poverty line in 2013, compared with 18 percent 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.
“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.