Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
7 Figures: National Academies report on child poverty
7 Figures: National Academies report on child poverty
Jan 26, 2026 4:53 AM

In a massive new599-page study, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Board on Children, Youth, and Families produced a report on the costs of child poverty in the United States and the effectiveness of current efforts aimed at reducing poverty.

Here are seven figures from the report you should know:

1. In 2015, the latest year for which estimates were available, more than 9.6 million U.S. children (13.0 per cent) lived in families with annual es below a poverty line defined by the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). About 2.1 million children (2.9 per cent) lived in “deep poverty,” defined as having family resources below half of the poverty-based line.

2. Child poverty rates were much higher for Black children (18 percent) and Hispanic children (22 percent) than for non-Hispanic White children (8 percent); for children in single-parent families (22 percent) than for those in two-parent families (9 percent); for children in immigrant families (21 percent) than for those in non-immigrant families (10 percent); and for children in families with no workers (62 percent) than for those in families with part-time workers (28 percent) or with full-time workers (7 percent).

3. The two refundable tax credits—the EITC and the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit—are the most successful at alleviating poverty. The report estimates that the elimination of these tax credits would raise SPM child poverty to 18.9 percent, an increase of 5.9 percentage points or 4.4 million children. In the absence of SNAP benefits, the child poverty rate would have increased to 18.2 percent.

4. During the 1967–2016 period, child poverty rates varied with both business cycles and changes in social benefit programs. Government tax and transfer programs reduced child poverty modestly between 1967 and 1993, but they became increasingly important after 1993 because of increases in government benefits (mainly the Earned e Tax Credit) targeted at the poor and near-poor. Between 1993 and 2016, SPM poverty fell by 12.3 percentage points, dropping from 27.9 to 15.6 percent.

5. The decline in two-parent family structure is the single biggest factor associated with the increase in child (official) poverty between the mid-1970s and the early 1990s. However, child poverty has fallen since the early 1990s, despite continuing increases in single parenthood. This more recent decline in child poverty is most strongly associated with increases in maternal employment.

6. Men who grew up in poverty are twice as likely as adults to have been arrested, and among women early childhood poverty was associated with a six-fold increase in the likelihood of bearing a child out of wedlock prior to age 21.

7. Programs producing the largest reductions in child poverty are estimated to cost the most. Almost all of mittee-developed program options that lead to substantial poverty reduction were estimated to cost at least $20 billion annually.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
How information and incentives solve economic problems
Note: This is post #18 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. To solve economic problems we need to solve information and incentive problems. In this video, Alex Tabarrok looks at how Nobel Prize-winner Friedrich Hayek described the price system and its approach to solving the information problem. In this video, we take a look at how Nobel Prize-winner Friedrich Hayek described the price system and its approach to solving the information problem. (If you find the pace of...
5 facts about the UK Supreme Court’s Brexit decision
This morning, the UK Supreme Court ruled that Brexit may not go forward unless Parliament votes to authorize withdrawal from the European Union, despite the fact that the motion won a national referendum last year. Here are five facts you need to know about British citizens’ attempt to reassert their sovereignty by leaving the Brussels-based international government body. 1. Brexit passed handily and remains popular in England. Parliament voted in June and December 2015 to allow for a national referendum...
How to pray for President Trump
At noon today, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Whether you supported or opposed him, as Christians we have a specific duty to our new president: to pray for him. The Apostle Paul urges us to make “petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving” for “for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:1). When we fail to pray for...
Video: Rev. Sirico on religion and the inauguration of President Trump
Acton Institute President Rev. Robert A. Sirico joined host Neal Cavuto this morning on Fox News Channel’sCost of Freedom to mentary on the national prayer service held today at the Washington National Cathedral as part of the activities surrounding the inauguration of President Donald Trump, and to examine the role the civil religion has played throughout American history. You can view the interview below. ...
Turkey imprisons American pastor for ‘terrorism’
A pastor and North Carolina native is being held in Turkey on unsubstantiated charges of terrorism related activity. After more than 20 years of serving as an evangelical missionary in Turkey, Andrew Brunson, 48, thought he was being summoned to receive a long-awaited permanent residence card. Instead, Brunson was notified that he was being deported based on being a “threat to national security.” He was held for 63 days while being denied access to an attorney—and even denied access to...
Audio & Video: Sirico & Bonicelli on the Trump Administration
As the Trump Administration begins its work this week, the media continues to call on the Acton Institute for analysis mentary, both in the US and abroad. Internationally, Acton Director of Programs and Education Paul Bonicelli joined hostAlex Jensen ontbs eFM 101.3’s “This Morning” program in Seoul, South Koreaon January 22ndto discuss the economic challenges facing the ing administration, and the likelihood of potential trade conflicts between the United States and other nations down the road based on the protectionist...
Video: Avik Roy on the end of cultural conservatism as we know it
BillBuckley and Russell Kirk were leaders in buildinga movement of cultural conservatism to counter the dominant strain of liberalism that governed American politics following World War II. Thismovement would eventually lead to the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the end of the Cold War, as well as the riseof Republican congressional leadership in the 1990s and following. But with the fall munism and a changing American society, cultural conservatism finds itself at a crossroads. Avik Roy, president ofThe Foundation for...
Explainer: What you should know about ‘school choice’
In honor of the seventh annual National School Choice Week, here are some facts you should know about school choice in America. What does “school choice” mean? The term “school choice” refers to programs that give parents the power and opportunity to choose the schools their children attend, whether public, private, parochial, or homeschool. Why is school choice necessary? While there are some excellent public schools in America, many students are trapped in schools with inadequate facilities, substandard curriculum, and...
Samuel Gregg on Tocqueville and democracy’s fall in America
Image from Wikimedia ‘Democracy in America’ by Alexis de Tocqueville is a 19th century book that serves as a guide to explain how the American political system has evolved into its current state. In this book, Tocqueville describes what he noticed about American democracy when he traveled through the country in 1831. Acton Institute Director of Research, Samuel Gregg gives insight in a new article at Public Discourseof what Tocqueville noticed about American democracy and how it might be susceptible...
Explainer: What you should know about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Earlier today, President Trump took action to formally abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Here is what you should know about the agreement and why it matters. What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Five years in the making, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was a trade agreement between the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore, and New Zealand. The twelve countries in the proposed prise roughly 40 percent of global G.D.P. and one-third of world trade. The purpose...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved