| Overview | Work Attachment and Advancement |
State policies that promote the economic security of our nation’s families can help offset larger economic and social conditions that make it difficult for families to get by and get ahead. This four-part profile provides data on low-income children and families in the United States and summarizes state policy choices regarding families’ work attachment and advancement, income adequacy, and asset development.
In the United States, there are 40.9 million families, with 73.8 million children. Among these children, 41 percent live in low-income families, defined as income below twice the federal poverty level (for 2009, $44,100 for a family of four). Young children are particularly likely to live in low-income families—44 percent of children under the age of 6 live in low-income families.
Low wages and a lack of higher education contribute to families having insufficient incomes. Nationally, 51 percent of low-income children have at least one parent who works full-time, year-round.
Parents without a college education often struggle to earn enough to support a family, but only 27 percent of adults in United States have a bachelor’s degree. A substantial portion of children in United States whose parents only have a high school diploma—60 percent—are low income.
Children of foreign-born parents are also more likely to be low income than children of native-born parents—60 percent of children of immigrant parents live in low-income families.
Children in the United States by income level, 20081
Employment status of parents of low-income children, 20081
Percent of children who are low-income by parental education, 20081
Percent of children who are low-income by parents' nativity, 20081
Learn more about children in the United States.
| Work Attachment and Advancement |
Data Notes and Sources
Data were compiled from 50-state sources. Some state policy decisions may have changed since these data were collected.
- State data were calculated from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (the March supplement) of the Current Population Survey from 2007, 2008, and 2009, representing information from calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008. NCCP averaged three years of data because of small sample sizes in less populated states. The national data were calculated from the 2009 data, representing information from the previous calendar year.