The state in which I live: Michigan Average
Children represent a disproportionate share of the poor in the
United States; they are 24 percent of the total population, but 36 percent of
the poor population. In 2010, 16.4 million children, or 22.0 percent, were
poor. The poverty rate for children also varies substantially by race and
Hispanic origin, as shown in the table below[4].
Children
Under 18 Living in Poverty, 2010
|
||
Category
|
Number (in thousands)
|
Percent
|
All children under 18
|
16, 401
|
22.0
|
White only, non-Hispanic
|
5,002
|
12.4
|
Black
|
4,817
|
38.2
|
Hispanic
|
6,110
|
35.0
|
Asian
|
547
|
13.6
|
SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Income, Poverty, and
Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010, Report P60, n. 238,
Table B-2, pp. 68-73.
Lansing, Michigan: 34.4%
State: 22.1%
The Detroit area is where I grew up. With a population of
just over 700,000, 54 percent of Detroit children, 100,000 are officially living
in poverty. The federal “poverty level”—a miserable $22,314 per year for a
family of four—is so inadequate for modern life that Kids Count also provides
the statistics for 150 percent, 200 percent and 250 percent of the poverty
level, which still means an inability to meet basic needs. In fact, the
official federal poverty threshold is only 30 percent of the national median
household income, whereas in 1960, it was nearly 50 percent. When these more
realistic numbers are taken into account, then an overwhelming majority—71
percent—of Detroit children are poor, that is living at or below 150 percent of
the federal poverty line. The youngest children, ages 0 to 5, are the most
affected, with a full 58 percent living in families below the poverty line.
Reference (1)
http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=131#ixzz22209nQpf
KIDS COUNT Detroit (here)
Children under age 18 make up nearly 48 percent of the
population of the world's least developed countries, compared with 21 percent
of the population of the world's industrialized nations. http://www.compassion.com/poverty/poverty.htm
http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/Flash/photoessays/english/E_2_poverty.html