Obamanomics? More Chidren Live In Poverty Now Than During Crisis

For all the back-patting exuberance over manipulated record high stock prices and record periods of illusory job gains, it appears the administration and its Obamanomics forgot one important thing - the children! As USA Today reports, a higher percentage of children live in poverty now than did during the Great Recession, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation released Tuesday.

“Where you grew up is similar to where you end up when you’re an adult,” Bloome said. “That helps perpetuate racial segregation.”

As USA Today reports,

About 22% of children in the U.S. lived below the poverty line in 2013, compared with 18% in 2008, the foundation's 2015 Kids Count Data Book reported. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Human and Health Service's official poverty line was $23,624 for a family with two adults and two children.

“The fact that it’s happening is disturbing on lots of levels,” said Laura Speer, the associate director for policy reform and advocacy at the Casey Foundation, a non-profit based in Baltimore. “Those kids often don’t have the access to the things they need to thrive.” The foundation says its mission is to help low-income children in the U.S. by providing grants and advocating for policies that promote economic opportunity.

As AECF details,

Millions of low-income U.S. families with children face considerable daily obstacles that can threaten the entire family’s stability and lead to lifelong difficulties for their kids. A family-supporting job that provides a steady source of parental income and opportunities for advancement is critical to moving children out of poverty.

But having a job, even one that pays enough to support a family, is only part of the solution. Working parents need access to paid time off to adequately care for themselves and their children. Access to affordable, high-quality, flexible child care is critical for all working parents with young children, but the need is especially great for those parents working in low-paying jobs with irregular, often erratic work hours.

Even several years after the recession ended, the number of children living in low-income working families continues to increase. In 2013, one in four children, 18.7 million, lived in a low-income working family in the United States. This is 1.7 million more than in 2008. And, 27 percent of children in low-income working families are younger than age 6.

 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-21/obamanomics-more-chidren-live-poverty-now-during-crisis