African American children make up the poorest group in the United States.
While many in the United States achieve the American Dream, a significant portion of the population lives in poverty, struggling to feed, clothe and shelter their families from week to week. Unfortunately, minorities make up most of the poor population, and African Americans seem to struggle more than any other race.
Poverty Thresholds
The United States Census Bureau considers a family as poor if its pretax income, not including government benefits, is below the poverty threshold. Thresholds vary according to how many people live in the household and what age they are. In 2009, a single individual under age 65 was considered below the poverty line if he earned less than $11,161. A single parent with two children who earns less than $17,285 was considered poor. A two-parent family with two children was under the poverty line in 2009 if the family's combined income was less than $21,756.
Overall Poverty Rates
According to the National Poverty Center (NPC) at the University of Michigan, 14.3 percent of the U.S. population was living in poverty in 2009. Historically, the poverty rate for children has been significantly higher than the overall rate, as has the rate for single women. Overall, 20.7 percent of all children under 18 were living in poverty in 2008. Since 1974, the poverty rate of single-mother families has been about three times higher than that of two-parent households, according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
African American Poverty Rates
The NPC reports that poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanics have historically exceeded the national average, but African Americans are the poorest group overall in the United States. In 2009, 25.8 percent of blacks were poor. Rates are higher for black children and single black women. Of African America children, 35.4 percent live below the poverty line. One contributing factor, according to Janell Ross from The Huffington Post, could be that unemployment rates are higher for blacks as well. As national unemployment rates fell to 8.8 percent in March 2011, unemployment rates for blacks rose to 15.5 percent. During the recession of 2008, black and Latino workers lost their jobs faster than white and Asian workers. More than 75 percent of African American kids "spend at least part of their childhood in poverty, and 37 percent of them are persistently poor" according to Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt, a Senior Policy Analyst with CLASP, an organization that seeks to improve the lives of low-income people.
Poverty Rates Among Other Races
According to the National Poverty Center, 25.3 percent of Hispanics were living in poverty in 2009, as well as 12.5 percent of Asians and 9.4 percent of whites. One third of Hispanic children were below the poverty line in 2008, as were 13.3 percent of Asian kids and 11.9 percent of white kids.
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