Childhood Poverty
The National Children’s Campaign is a nonpartisan organization that advocates for policies that improve the preventable problem of childhood poverty in America. Regrettably, children are the poorest age group in our country. Approximately one in five children—12.8 million in total and 45 percent of these children lived in extreme poverty at less than half the poverty level. 1 Nearly 70 percent of poor children are children of color. About one in three American Indian/Alaska Native children and more than one in four Black and Hispanic children are poor. 2 Poor children under five experience gaps in cognitive skills due to experiencing poverty during the years of rapid brain development. 3
The harm of childhood poverty can last a lifetime. It puts children at risk for intergenerational cycles of poverty due to the risk of homelessness and hunger that are exacerbated by a lack of resources devoted to educational advancement and quality health care.
America is the richest nation in the world and has a moral obligation to uplift its youngest citizens. Investments in our children not only protect their future but the future and vitality of our country.
Child Abuse & Neglect
The National Children’s Campaign is a nonpartisan organization that advocates for policies that address the scourge of child abuse and neglect. In America, we have 7.5 million reports of child abuse a year that occur every 47 seconds with child abuse crosses all socioeconomic and educational levels, religions, ethnic and cultural groups.4
Abuse and neglect take a long-term physical and emotional toll on affected children, their families, and the communities in which they live. The National Children’s Campaigns believe all children deserve a great childhood. We work tirelessly to advocate that our elected officials implement policies that help ensure children have the best chance to grow up in a safe, secure and nurturing home and increase their prospects for a successful life as adults.
1. Children in Poverty (under age 18 and under age 6), number and percent: U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. “2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates,” Tables B17020. Accessed via Data.Census.Gov: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/; U.S. Census Bureau. 2018.
2. Children in Poverty by Race/Ethnicity (under age 18 and under age 6): U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. “2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates,” Tables B17020B-I. Accessed via Data.Census.Gov: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/; U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. “2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates,” Tables B17020B-I. Accessed via Data.Census.Gov: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/.
3. Brown, L. & Pollitt, E. (1996). Malnutrition, poverty and intellectual development. Scientific American, 274(2), pp. 38–43.
4. American Society for the Positive Care of Children, https://americanspcc.org/child-abuse-statistics/