PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island KIDS COUNT recently released data showing that 14% of children in the Ocean State, approximately 28,000, lived in poverty in 2019.
The percentage ranks the Ocean State as No. 21 in the nation and No. 5 out of the six New England states for having the highest percentage of children living in poverty in 2019.
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The figure, KIDS COUNT said, is a decrease from 2018, when 18% of children lived in poverty in Rhode Island. Also, 6.6% of children, or about 13,154 children, lived in extreme poverty in 2019, a drop from 8.2% in 2018, KIDS COUNT said.
Families who live in extreme poverty have incomes below 50% of the poverty level – $10,299 for a family of three with two children and $12,963 for a family of four with two children, KIDS COUNT said.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic could make poverty worse in Rhode Island. KIDS COUNT said according to recent data from the Census Household Pulse Survey collected in late August, 31.4% of adults lived in households where it has been “somewhat or very difficult” to afford usual household expenses during the health crisis.
Furthermore, 29.8% of Rhode Island adults said it was somewhat or likely that eviction or foreclosure would occur in the next two months and 12.1% said they sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat in the last seven days.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
