The Annie E. Casey Foundation reported this month that “nearly 8 million children under age 18 live in areas of concentrated poverty—communities where at least 30 percent of residents have incomes below the federal poverty level” of about $22,000 for a family of four. Resources critical to kids growth such as high-performing schools, quality medical care, and safe outdoor spaces are often out of reach for them and their families. Since the year 2000, the report continued, “the chance that a child will live in a high-poverty area has grown significantly.” Now, 1.6 million more children are living in these communities, a 25 percent increase over the last decade. To see high-poverty areas at the national, state, and city level, read Children Living in America's High-Poverty Communities: A KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot.
Children of color are far more likely to live in such communities. “African-American (27 percent), American Indian (24 percent), and Latino (19 percent) children are six to nine times more likely to live in high-poverty communities than their white (3 percent) counterparts.” The result is that economically disadvantaged African-American, American Indian, and Latino children are significantly more likely than white children to have the adverse consequences of living in a high-poverty neighborhood significantly aggravate the negative effects of household poverty.
Among the cities in the U.S. with the highest concentrations of such children are Miami, Houston, Dallas, and El Paso from the Gulf South area.