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Child poverty rates have ranged between 15 percent and 23 percent over the past four decades.1
These rates, however, do not reveal how long
children live in poverty. Many families cycle into
and out of poverty over time, while others remain
poor many years. Persistent poverty among children is of particular concern, as the cumulative
effect of being poor may lead to especially negative outcomes and limited opportunities.
Using Panel Study of Income Dynamics
(PSID) data from 1968 through 2005, this brief
examines childrens poverty status from birth
through age 17 and provides new information on
persistent poverty among children. We examine
the incidence and duration of poverty for all
children together and separately by race, because
poverty rates differ substantially for white and
black children.2 Then, we examine outcomes for
the same children at ages 25 to 30 to measure the
relationship between childhood poverty and adult
outcomes. We answer five key research questions:
This study is the first to highlight the relationship between poverty status at birth and chil-
4
6
90
2
3
10
18
10
80
37
17
19
17
70
Percent
60
24
50
40
70
63
30
15
20
23
10
0
All children
0
White children
13
48
Black children
913
1418
FIGURE 2. Number of Child Poverty Spells by Number of Years Poor as a Child (percent)
77
1 spell
2 spells
3+ spells
58
48
37
25
18
15
17
4
Poor 13 years
Source: Authors tabulation of PSID data.
Poor 48 years
Poor 9+ years
FIGURE 3. Poverty Rates of Children Who Are Poor and Not Poor at Birth, by Age and Race
100
90
80
Percent poor
70
60
Poor at birth
50
40
30
20
10
0
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Age
100
90
80
Poor at birth, black children
Percent poor
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Age
Source: Authors tabulation of PSID data.
Note: Thirteen percent of all children, 8 percent of white children, and 40 percent of black children are poor at birth.
FIGURE 4. Distribution of Years Poor as a Child by Poverty Status at Birth and Race
100
90
1
3
8
1
2
6
5
18
25
80
10
31
15
49
13
27
70
69
24
60
Percent
36
16
34
50
40
33
39
20
76
27
72
19
30
20
35
24
10
10
0
Not poor
Poor
at birth
at birth
All children
0
Not poor
Poor
at birth
at birth
White children
13
48
Not poor
Poor
at birth
at birth
Black children
913
1418
Poor at birth
4
2
17
21
6
41
18 ***
3
24 **
7
6
11
22
24
20
15 ***
18 ***
8
10
6
40
31
18
38
20 ***
12 **
2
72
73
69
76
88
36
4
15
33 **
55
54
54
42
46
40
13
8
14
Difference
between ages 25 and 30. An individual is consistently employed if he or she reports being
employed in each calendar year observed from
age 25 to age 30. For men, there is no statistically
significant difference in the likelihood of being
consistently employed by poverty status at birth.
Between 72 and 76 percent of men in these two
groups are consistently employed. Examining
both races together, however, masks an important
finding: black men who are poor at birth are
33 percentage points less likely to be consistently
employed than black men who are not poor at
birth. This finding suggests future economic
hardship for black boys born into poor families,
hardship that can have ripple effects if these individuals go on to become fathers. The degree of
employment is lower for women who are poor
versus not poor at birth, although the differences
are not statistically significant.
Percent
60
50
43***
40
32***++
31***++
30
26**++
20
13
10**++
7***+
13
48
9+
75
80
23
***
10
0
***
75
13
48
9+
No high school
diploma
Number of years poor as a child age 017
10*+
13
48
9+
Teen nonmarital
birth
74
70
60
Percent
60
50
47
41*
40
34***+
28***
30
20
10
0
0
13
48
9+
13
48
9+
Notes
1. U.S. Census Bureau, Table 3. Poverty Status of People,
by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2008,
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/histpov/
hstpov3.xls.
2. In 2008, for example, 10.6 percent of white children lived
in poor families, compared with 34.7 percent of black
children (U.S. Census Bureau, Table 3). The original
PSID sample has a relatively small number of Latino
households, so it does not allow for reliable estimates of
this population.
3. See Corcoran (1995); Duncan and Brooks-Gunn (1997);
Duncan, Kalil, and Ziol-Guest (2008); Duncan et al.
(1998); Fass, Dinan, and Aratani (2009); Haveman,
Wolfe, and Spaulding (1991); Rank and Hirschl (1999);
and Wagmiller and Adelman (2009).
4. National Center for Children in Poverty analyses that
examine children born between 1970 and 1990 show similar results. They find, for example, that 65 percent of children never live in poverty and 10 percent are poor for at
least half their childhoods (Fass et al. 2009; Wagmiller and
Adelman 2009).
5. An examination of consecutive years of poverty also shows
large differences by race.
References
10
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This brief is part of the Urban Institutes Low-Income Working Families project, a
multiyear effort that focuses on the private- and public-sector contexts for
families success or failure. Both contexts offer opportunities for better helping
families meet their needs.
The Low-Income Working Families project is currently supported by The Annie E.
Casey Foundation and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
This brief was funded by a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to the Urban
Institutes Low-Income Working Families project. The authors thank Greg Acs, Olivia
Golden, Margaret Simms, Shelly Waters-Boots, and Sheila Zedlewski for their advice
and comments, and Amelia Hawkins for excellent research assistance.
The views expressed are those of authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the
Urban Institute, its boards, its sponsors, or other authors in the series. Permission is
granted for reproduction of this document with attribution to the Urban Institute.