PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island had the nation’s 17th-lowest rate of child poverty last year, a marked improvement from its 35th-lowest ranking in 2005, according to a report this afternoon by Rhode Island Kids Count.
“We are seeing the results of our state’s investments in children,” said Elizabeth Burke Bryant, the policy group’s executive director, who called the report “good news for Rhode Island families.”
Among Rhode Islanders younger than 18, the poverty rate last year was 15.1 percent, down from 19.5 percent in 2005, the nonprofit found in analyzing data released this morning by the U.S. Census Bureau. The portion of Rhode Island children living in extreme poverty – on an income half or less of the federal poverty level – shrank to 6.5 percent last year from 10 percent in 2005.
Nationwide, the child poverty rate edged down to 18.3 percent in 2006, from the previous year’s level of 18.5 percent.
The 2006 figures, drawn from the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey, are based on a federal poverty level of $16,242 a year for a family of three.
“We know that children living in families with incomes below the poverty level are at much higher risk for poor outcomes,” Bryant said. “Reducing child poverty rates directly influences a child’s chance for success.”
Although the Rhode Island poverty rate declined among children of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, the sharpest declines were seen among blacks and Hispanics. The poverty rate last year was 36 percent among black children, down from 53 percent in 2005; 36 percent among Hispanic children, down from 47 percent; and 9 percent among white children, down from 12 percent the year before.
The percentage of Rhode Island children who lack health insurance was essentially unchanged, at 6.4 percent last year versus 6.5 percent in 2005, the Kids Count analysis found. Nationwide, the 2006 rate was 11 percent.
The state “is clearly making progress,” Bryant said. But, she added: “We must continue to invest in quality child care, early education and affordable health care for low-income families. Research clearly documents that low-income families with access to child care and health care are more likely to enter the work force and maintain stable employment.”
(Nationwide, the share of the population without insurance rose, especially among children, according to a separate analysis today by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute. READ MORE.)
Rhode Island Kids Count is a statewide nonprofit that works to improve the health, economic well-being, safety, education and development of Rhode Island children. To learn more, visit www.rikidscount.org.
