ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

Figure 4-2
Official Poverty Rate for Households
with Children by Householder Characteristic, 2014
Percent Below Federal Poverty Level
50
Race/Ethnicity Education Marital Status
40
30
20
10
0
Source: CPS ASEC (2015); CEA calculations.
measures are both mutable and strong predictors of long-run outcomes.
Evidence is also presented on the parallel gaps in a variety of parental characteristics
and inputs as well as other characteristics of children’s environments
that likely contribute to the gaps in early outcomes.
Here and throughout this chapter, the focus is on income-based gaps
and disadvantages associated with poverty. While poverty is strictly defined
in terms of income, it is important to note that poverty can also serve as a
proxy for many other forms of disadvantage that may also stifle investment
in early childhood. Poverty is unevenly distributed by race/ethnicity and
family structure. In 2014, 15.5 million children lived in poverty in the United
States—an overall child poverty rate of 21 percent. But youth of color were
disproportionately impoverished, including 37 percent of African-American
youth and 32 percent of Hispanic youth. Young children of single mothers
were also disproportionately impoverished, with over one-half of all related
children under age 6 in households headed by a female in poverty (Census
Bureau 2015).
Finally, as Figure 4-2 shows, children whose households are headed by
individuals who are non-White, less-educated, and/or single are especially
likely to experience poverty; as a result, they are more likely to experience
deficits in early health and human capital inputs and in later-life outcomes.
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