Category: Children

Resource Category Topic Type
Over Sixteen Million Children in Poverty in 2011
UPDATE: This brief has been updated to include revised versions of Figure 1 (page 2) and Appendix 1 (page 6). The original version of this brief overestimated the statistical significance of some state-level changes in child poverty between 2010 and 2011, and has been revised accordingly.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Poverty Publication
Overall Declines in Child Poverty Mask Relatively Stable Rates Across States
Earlier this week, the U.S. Census Bureau published its official poverty estimates noting a decline in poverty across the population.1 In this brief, we use additional Census data released today from the American Community Survey (ACS), the only regular source for estimating yearly child poverty rates at, and below, the state level. We examine child poverty rates across the United States by place type, region, and state (see Box 1). Child poverty decreased across the United States from 21.7 percent in 2014 to 20.7 percent in 2015 (see Table 1). Nationwide child poverty rates are still higher, however, than they were in 2009, at the end of the Great Recession. Child poverty has declined to 2009 levels in rural areas only, and remains above pre-recession levels in all place types (analyses not shown). Child poverty declined across all place types over the past year, as shown in Table 1. It remains lowest in suburbs and highest in cities, though rural areas are not far behind. Regionally, child poverty rates were highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast; yet, Northeastern cities have higher child poverty than cities in any other region. Child poverty fell in thirteen states and only rose in Mississippi—the only state with a child poverty rate over 30 percent. New Hampshire child poverty remains among the lowest nationwide at 10.7 percent, a significant decline from last year. See Figure 1. While these child poverty declines are promising and corroborated by results from the official poverty statistics published earlier this week, it is important to keep in mind that most states experienced no change between 2014 and 2015. Lower child poverty rates appear to be driven by higher median incomes over the past year.2
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Poverty Publication
Proposed EITC Expansion Would Increase Eligibility and Dollars for Rural and Urban “Childless” Workers
This brief uses data from the 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey to examine how President Obama’s proposed expanded eligibility and higher credit values might affect tax filers in both rural and urban America.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Employment, Rural, Safety Net, Tax, Urban Publication
Psychotropic Medication Use Among Children in the Child Welfare System
Prior research demonstrates that children in the child welfare system are given psychotropic medication at rates approximately three times higher than children and adolescents in the general population.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Health Publication
Public Insurance Drove Overall Coverage Growth Among Children in 2012
Using data from the American Community Survey, this brief examines the rates of health insurance coverage among children under 18 in the United States by region and by rural, suburban, and central city residence between 2008 and 2012.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Health Insurance Publication
Rates of Public Health Insurance Coverage for Children Rise as Rates of Private Coverage Decline
This brief uses data from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to document changes in rates of children’s health insurance, between private and public. The authors report that, nationally, private health insurance for children decreased by just under 2 percentage points, while public health insurance increased by nearly 3 percentage points.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Health Insurance Publication
Reading Levels of Rural and Urban Third Graders Lag Behind Their Suburban Peers
This brief examines the complex interplay of family, school, and place factors in the reading achievement levels of third grade students. Third grade reading achievement is critical to later academic and occupational success. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, the authors report that suburban children realize greater gains in reading achievement from kindergarten to Grade 3 than their rural or urban counterparts. Rural students who were struggling readers at the beginning of kindergarten have lower average reading achievement in third grade than both urban and suburban students when children of the same socioeconomic status are compared. The differences in third grade reading achievement between rural and nonrural children who were low achievers in kindergarten most likely reflect different educational opportunities and school resources available to these children. The authors suggest that improved professional development opportunities for rural teachers may help narrow the differences in the third grade reading achievement of rural, urban, and suburban students who were struggling readers in kindergarten.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Education, Rural, Urban Publication
Record Number of Children Covered by Health Insurance in 2011
Using data from the 2008 through 2011 American Community Survey, this brief describes rates of children’s health insurance coverage nationally, by region, and place type (that is, rural, suburban, and central city). In addition, it details the composition of coverage in the United States, specifically the proportion of children covered by private and public insurance.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Health Publication
Regional Young Child Poverty in 2008: Rural Midwest Sees Increased Poverty, While Urban Northeast Rates Decrease
In 2008, America's recession affected poverty rates for children under age 6 unevenly, with rates in the rural Midwest rising significantly, while rates in northeastern central cities fell slightly. And in the rural South, where more than 30 percent of young children are poor, poverty rates for young children persisted at a very high rate. This is an analysis of American Community Survey data released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Poverty, Rural, Urban Publication
Rural and Central City Residents with Multiple Children Likely to Be Hardest Hit by Proposed WIC Cuts
This brief uses data from the 2007 and 2010 Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement to describe the distribution of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) receipt across the population and to detail place-based differences in receipt. WIC is a nutrition program that serves pregnant or postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5 (who meet certain criteria) by providing them with nutrition education and checks or vouchers for food purchases. The proposed fiscal year 2012 funding is $733 million less for WIC than fiscal year 2011 levels, and far less than what is needed to serve all who are eligible. This brief describes the implications of the cuts to the WIC budget to help policymakers and service providers to better understand the population likely affected by cuts to WIC funding.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Poverty, Rural, Safety Net, Urban Publication
Rural Children and Those Residing in Central Cities Have Lower Rates of Health Insurance Coverage and are More Often Covered by Public Plans
This Carsey brief looks at the geographic distribution of health insurance for children. Based on data from the 2008 American Community Survey, it includes such findings as one in ten children are still uninsured, insurance rates vary considerably by geographic area, and rural children are most likely to depend on public plans for their health care.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Health Insurance, Rural, Urban Publication
Rural Children Are More Likely to Live in Cohabiting-Couple Households
As cohabiting increases nationwide, new data show that the growing rate of children in these households is most pronounced in rural areas. This brief analyzes recent U.S. Census Bureau data to explore these trends and patterns.
Demography, Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Demography, Housing, Rural, Young Adults Publication
Rural Children Increasingly Rely on Medicaid and State Child Health Insurance Programs for Medical Care
Despite a flurry of reports on health insurance coverage for children, virtually none of them have examined the unique situation of rural families where one-fifth of all the nation's poor children live. This brief takes an in-depth look at the health insurance programs, such as SCHIP and Medicaid, which rural children rely on for medical care.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Health, Health Insurance, Poverty, Rural, Safety Net Publication
Rural Children Now Less Likely to Live in Married-Couple Families
The percentage of rural children living in married-couple families dropped to 68 percent in 2008, one percentage point below that of children in metropolitan areas. In 1990, 76 percent of rural children and 72 percent of metropolitan-area children were living in married-couple families. But while marriage declined in both areas in the 1990s, urban rates bottomed out at 68 percent in 1998. The share of rural children living in married-couple families plunged from 73 percent in 2000 to 68 percent in 2008.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Family, Housing, Rural Publication
Rural Families Choose Home-Based Child Care for their Preschool-Aged Children
This policy brief examines who is taking care of preschoolers of employed mothers in rural America. While most rural families choose home-based child care (such as relatives or informal nonrelated care providers), formal care (such as in day care centers) has positive benefits to a child's development. The brief recommends that programs are needed that either make formal care more affordable and accessible in rural communities, or that train home-based care providers to provide quality care.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Child Care, Children, Education, Family, Rural Publication
Rural Families with a Child Abuse Report are More Likely Headed by a Single Parent and Endure Economic and Family Stress
This brief, which is based on data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, finds that rural families who have been reported to Child Protective Services are more likely than urban families to have financial difficulties and high family stress, as well as grow up in single-parent households. To effectively address these issues, the brief urges policy makers to look at the lack of accessible and adequate services for struggling rural families.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Family, Health, Rural Publication
Student Discipline in New Hampshire Schools (co-publication with the Children's Alliance of New Hampshire)
A new analysis of student discipline in New Hampshire schools in the 2007–2008 school year shows that out-of-school suspension rates are higher and statewide expulsion rates are lower than the national average. Schools reporting the highest rates of suspensions and expulsions are the smallest in the state and have the highest percentage of students in poverty. This brief is the first in a collaborative series between the Children's Alliance of New Hampshire and the Carsey Institute.
Evaluation, New Hampshire Children, Education, New Hampshire, Young Adults Publication
Students in Rural Schools Have Limited Access to Advanced Mathematics Courses
This Carsey brief reveals that students in rural areas and small towns have less access to higher-level mathematics courses than students in urban settings, which results in serious educational consequences, including lower scores on assessment tests and fewer qualified students entering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) job pipelines.
Vulnerable Families Research Program Children, Education, Rural, Young Adults Publication
Supportive Program Strengths and Gaps for New Hampshire Families
In this brief, authors Sarah Boege and Jess Carson describe child and family program use and gaps among respondents to the 2022 New Hampshire Preschool Development Grant Family Needs Assessment Survey.
Center for Social Policy in Practice, New Hampshire Child Care, Children, Education, Family, Food Assistance, New Hampshire, Poverty, Public Opinion, Safety Net Publication
The Changing Faces of America's Children and Youth
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates indicate that between July 2008 and July 2009, 48.6 percent of the 4 million children born in the United States were minorities. In contrast, nearly 60 percent of the children born ten years ago were non-Hispanic white. This rapid change demonstrates that America's youth are at the forefront of the country's rapidly shifting demographic makeup. This brief reveals the factors causing this increase in the proportion of minority births.
Demography, Vulnerable Families Research Program Birth Rates, Children, Demography, Young Adults Publication