Blog #9

To begin with the first graph on the NCCP website displayed how minorities such as black, Latino and American Indian children are the most disadvantaged in the poverty scale. These are also the minorities that make up families that earn money below the poverty line. According to the web site, 35% of black children live in poor families, and “In the 10 most populated states, rates of child poverty among black children range from 20% in New Jersey to 42% in Ohio”. It shows that 28% of Latino children, 29% of American Indian, 11% of Asian children and 10% of white children live in poor families.

The site explains that having immigrant parents raises the child chance of being poor. This has a lot to do with the fact the many immigrant parents have unstable job conditions and are sometimes unreliable. Immigrant families, weather legal or undocumented have a harder time applying for public assistance because it may affect their family or extended family in negative ways.

Also, younger children are affected more so than children over the age of 6. “Researchers believe that parents of young children do not earn as much as parents of older children because they tend to be younger and have less work experience.” (NCCP) I also believe that this is because children under age 6 need expensive childcare while those over age 6 have the option of state and federal funder public school systems.

NCCP suggests two ways to help children in poverty. The fist is to develop strategies that help parents succeed in the labor force. “Policies such as earned income tax credits and regular increases in the minimum wage are critical to supporting income growth for low-wage workers. The second suggestion is to create more support for parents and their young children. This support could be through the Early Head Start program, which is proven very beneficial as well at involving preschool aged children in public schools.