African-American Child Poverty & War in Iraq

The number of African American children who live in extreme poverty has risen sharply since 2000 according to a study by the Children's Defense Fund, a child welfare advocacy group.

In 2001, the last year for which government figures are available, nearly one million black children were living in families with after-tax incomes that were less than half the poverty line. The poverty line for a family of three was about $14,100. A family of three living in extreme poverty had a disposable income of about $7,060.

According to the Children's Defense Fund:

Nearly one in three Black children (30.2 percent) and more than one in four Hispanic children (28.0 percent) are poor in America, compared to 9.5 percent of Non-Hispanic White children and 11.5 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander children.

There are more poor White Non-Hispanic children (4.2 million) than poor Black children (3.5 million) or poor Hispanic children (3.6 million), even though the proportion of Black and Hispanic children who are poor is far higher. More poor children live in suburban and rural areas than in central cities. Poor families have only 2.2 children on average.

Poverty matters. Poor children are at least twice as likely as nonpoor children to suffer stunted growth or lead poisoning, or to be kept back in school. Poor children score significantly lower on reading, math and vocabulary tests when compared with otherwise-similar nonpoor children. More than half of poor Americans (55 percent) experience serious deprivations during the year (defined as lack of food, utility shutoffs, crowded or substandard housing, or lack of a stove or refrigerator). Poor households are more than 15 times as likely to experience hunger.

Ten out of five children in families headed by single women (39.3 percent) were poor in 2001. Only 8.0 percent of children in married families were poor.