US child poverty rates have risen during COVID

Child poverty rates in the USA have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among Latino and black children, and those in female-headed families, according to research.

Looking at national data provided by families and published in the Current Population Survey, the Child Trends survey organisation found that child poverty increased by an average of nearly percentage points, up from 15.7 in 2019 to 17.5 in 2020. This translates, it says, to roughly 12.5 million children living in poverty last year – up by 1.2 million in a year.

These national estimates, it adds, ‘mask the variation in economic circumstances experienced across child subgroups’. For example, poverty rates among Latino children rose by 4.2 percentage points, from 23.0 per cent to 27.3 percent, and by 2.8 percentage points among black children, from 26.4 percent to 29.2 per cent.

In real terms, these means an increase of approximately 700,000 more Latino children and 268,000 more black children living in poverty in 2020, relative to 2019. In contrast, the rates of white and Asian children in poverty remained relatively stable.

Click here for more information on the Child Trends survey.