Child poverty numbers dip, study reports

from the Newport Daily News

By Sean Flynn/Daily News staff

Poverty in Newport County and the state as a whole is declining, according to data recently released by the Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey and now being publicized by Rhode Island Kids Count.

Child poverty in Rhode Island decreased from 19.5 percent in 2005 to 15.1 percent in 2006. The number of children, people younger than 18, living in poverty statewide decreased from 46,894 in 2005 to 35,456 in 2006. Rhode Island now ranks 17th in the country for child poverty, an improvement from last year when Rhode Island ranked 35th.

"This significant drop in Rhode Island's child poverty rate is good news for Rhode Island families," said Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count, a children's policy organization that collects data and information related to the well being of children. "We are seeing the results of our state's investments in children."

Rhode Island families living below the poverty level decreased from 8.9 percent in 2000 to 7.8 percent in 2006, while the number of individuals living in poverty decreased from 11.9 percent to 11.1 percent, according to U.S. Census figures. The poverty threshold is a total annual household income of $16,242 for a family of three.

Elaine Farber, a research analyst for Kids Count, said the child poverty figures show the strongest decline because there can be multiple children in families, while other families just include two adults.

She said Rhode Island in recent years has helped parents go to work through child-care subsidies. She said people at Kids Count now are concerned the state may lose ground because of child-care subsidy cuts made by the General Assembly this year to balance the budget. Families with incomes up to 225 percent of the federal poverty level were eligible for subsidies before the cuts. Now, only families with incomes up to 180 percent of the federal poverty level can qualify. Also, children ages 13-15 no longer qualify for child-care assistance.

"With RIte Health Care, child care and other programs, Rhode Island has done a good job helping low-income families and children," Farber said. "We don't want that to change."

U.S. Census figures show poverty in Newport County also has been decreasing in recent years. Newport County families living below the poverty level decreased from 5.4 percent in 2000 to 2.9 percent in 2006, while the number of individuals living in poverty decreased from 7.1 percent to 5.7 percent.

Kat Keenan, a policy analyst from Kids Count, presented the 2006 census data to community and policy leaders this week at the Newport Public Library. The American Community Survey collects data annually for communities and counties with a population of 65,000 or more, so a breakdown for the individual communities in Newport County is not available.

Comprehensive data is collected every 10 years during the decennial census. According to Census 2000, there were 5,199 children younger than 18 living in Newport. With 24 percent of those children living below the poverty threshold, Newport seven years ago had the fifth-highest child-poverty rate in the state. Of the 1,267 children living below the poverty threshold, almost two-thirds lived in extreme poverty. That is defined as income at or below half of the federal poverty line. For a family of three, that would be an annual income of $8,121 or less.

Keenan said children in poverty are more likely to have health and behavioral problems, experience difficulty in school, become teen parents and earn less as adults.

"We know that children living in families with incomes below the poverty threshold are at much higher risk for poor outcomes," Bryant said. "Reducing child-poverty rates directly influences a child's chance for success."