Poverty & Economic Well-being

Childhood poverty—especially deep poverty, persistent poverty, and poverty during the earliest years of life—can negatively affect nearly every dimension of child development and well-being, including physical and mental health, social and emotional development, academic outcomes, and eventual labor market success. Despite a steep decline (by 59%) in child poverty from 1993 to 2019, the number of children living in families with insufficient resources to meet their basic needs remains too high.

Data Spotlight

Our updated child poverty data tool allows users to explore how poverty declined among children in their state from 1980 to 2020, alongside changes in economic and demographic conditions and the social safety net.

Explore Data