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THE STATE OF AMERICA'S CHILDREN YEARBOOK 1998 hardest hit. Their median income plunged 33 percent between 1973 and 1994, from nearly $30,000 to less than $20,000 (in 1994 dollars). Median income for families headed by a high school dropout likewise shriveled by close to onethird between 1973 and 1996, while that for families headed by a college graduate rose slightly. During the same period, income gaps between upper- and lower- income families widened (see figure 1.2). The poorest one-fifth of families (with or without children) in 1996 had incomes 9 percent lower than in 1973, while family income for the wealthiest fifth increased 35 percent. Families in the top 5 percent gained most; their incomes were 55 percent higher in 1996 than similar families two decades before. Minorities in particular have lost ground. While White families with children gained 4 percent from 1976 to 1996, Black families lost 4 percent and Hispanic families, 9 percent. Among young families the racial disparities in the income decline are especially wide, although minority households in every age group sustained losses. From 1973 to 1994, income dropped 46 percent among young Black families with children, compared with 28 percent among young Hispanics and 22 percent among young Whites. Two-parent families would have lost far more if mothers had not increase~ their participation in the paid labor force. Between 1975 and 1994, married mothers ages 25 to 29 increased their average annual work time by more than 60 percent, according to CDF's calculations. Even so, young married couples with children typically had incomes 12 percent lower in 1994 than in 1973 because the mother's additional work could not offset the 30 percent decline in the father's earnings in the same period. The need for both parents to work in order to staunch the loss of wages has had far-reaching consequences for children. More money must be spent on child care and other job-related expenses. The availability of private health insurance through work has plummeted (see chapter 2), so working families with children must spend more out of pocket to meet their health care needs. These burdens are difficult enough for two-parent families but even more challenging for single parents. Their incomes are low; Census Bureau data reveal that in 1996 nearly half (49 percent) of all children in Figure 1.1 The Working Poor Work does not guarantee that families will escape poverty. A large and growing proportion of poor families with children are headed by someone who works. 60 58 56 54 52 50 Percentage of poor families with children headed by someone who worked during the year Source: u.s. Deportment of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Calculations by Children's Defense Fund. 2 CHILDRE 'S DEFENSE FUND
FAMILY INCOME families headed by single mothers were below the poverty threshold ($12,516 for a three-person family in that year), compared with 10 percent for children in married-couple families. And the number of single-parent families has increased. Just under a quarter of all American children (23 percent) lived in female-headed families in March 1997-more than double the 1970 rate. More poverty among children. As already noted, Census Bureau data show that in 1973, 14.4 percent of all children in America were poor; by 1996 the rate had climbed to 20.5 percent. For young families, whose incomes have dropped the most, the child poverty rate doubled, from 20 percent in 1973 to 41 percent in 1994. Children are more likely to be poor than adults, and their disproportionate poverty is getting worse. CDF calculations of Census Bureau data show that children in the 1960s were, on average, 34 percent more likely to be poor than persons 18 or older. In 1996 children were 81 percent more likely than adults to be poor (20.5 percent of children lived in poverty versus 1l.3 percent of adults). Government cash transfer programs like Social Security lifted 78 percent of otherwise poor elderly Americans (over age 65) out of poverty in 1996. Cash assistance programs for children, including the now-abolished Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), did a far worse job, raising only 13 percent of children above the poverty line in .1996. Between 1970 and 1996, AFDC benefits lost about half their value, according to CDF calculations based on Congressional Research Service data. In contrast, Social Security, the main source of income security for senior citizens, has maintained its value through automatic cost-of-living adjustments that keep pace with inflation. Major expansions in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) since 1993 have been of some help to poor families. Census Bureau estimates indicate that the EITC provided enough aid in 1996 to lift nearly one in six poor children out of poverty-more than twice the proportion in 1993. The EITC increases have partially offset increases in child poverty that resulted from the welfare benefit cuts ofthe early 1980s, at least for families able to obtain work. Figure 1.2 Income Inequality Since 1985 the richest 5 percent of American families have received a larger share of the nation's income than the poorest 40 percent. Percentage of total U.S. family income received by rich and poor families ,, , ,",,--_ ... .. , , .., ,----... , I Riche.I 5% of familie. .., .. , ".' ,,,,,........ '" o 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 Source: u.s. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND 3
Page 2 and 3: About CDF he Children's Defense Fun
Page 4 and 5: Copyright © 1998 by Children's Def
Page 6 and 7: Acknowledgments Susanne Martinez, d
Page 8 and 9: THE STATE OF AMERICA'S CHILDREN YEA
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CHAPTER CHILD NUTRITION any America
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CHILD NUTRITION gram requirements,
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CHAPTER CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN CR
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THE STATE OF AMERICA'S CHILDREN YEA
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CHAPTER ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY fter r
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ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY 512,115 babies
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106 CHI L D R EN' S D E FEN S E FUN
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THE STATE OF AMERICA'S CHILDRE YEAR
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THE STATE OF AMERICA'S HILDREN YEAR
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