Young Child Poverty in the States—Wide Variation and Significant Change

_______________ 1 For example, states have vastly increased responsibility for welfare legislation. A key provision of the 1996 federal welfare overhaul (The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act) requires each state to provide an annual current estimate of its child poverty rate by May 31st, starting in 1998. If that rate exceeds the previous year’s rate by more than 5 percent, and this increase can be attributed to the effects of welfare reform, then the state must submit a corrective action plan. The logic of this requirement is clear: two-thirds of welfare recipients are children, and welfare reform cannot be deemed a success if it leads to higher child poverty rates. At this writing, the federal government is still in the process of determining the methodologies necessary for the states to fulfill the obligations outlined for them in the welfare reform act. 2 Poverty, extreme poverty, and near poverty are defined as living in families with incomes below 100 percent, 50 percent, and 185 percent of the poverty line, respectively. In 1996, the official federal poverty line was $16,036 for a family of four and $12,516 for a family of three. The YCPR is the percentage of children under age six who live in families with incomes below the poverty line. Poverty rates of children under age six, by state, 1992–1996 Early Childhood Poverty Young Child Poverty in the States—Wide Variation and Significant Change