In 2010 the percentage of children living in poverty is estimated to peak at 21%, while the number living in extreme poverty (less than 50% of the poverty line) is projected to climb to 10.1%.

Today children under 18 are the single largest group in America living in poverty.[...] The percentage of children living below the poverty line is expected to peak at 21 percent in 2010, the highest rate of child poverty in 20 years. [The Child and Youth Welfare Index report] estimate[s] that approximately 15.6 million children will be living in poverty in 2010.[...] The rate of children living in "extreme poverty," defined as less than 50 percent of the poverty line, is projected to climb to 10.1 percent in 2010.[...] [The study projects the] percent of children living in food-insecure households to climb from 16.9 percent in 2007 to 17.7 percent in 2010, which is an increase of 750,000 additional children at risk over this time period.

Foundation for Child Development. (2010). 2010 child and youth well being index. Retrieved from http://www.fcd-us.org/usr_doc/FINAL_2010_CWI_Annual_Release.pdf [posted 7/2/2010]

Links between the material hardships of poverty and health in very young children fortify concerns that the current economic climate will impact the future well-being of low-income children on multiple fronts.

Pediatric researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC), in partnership with other Children's HealthWatch investigators [...] have found that the cumulative effects of crowded and unstable housing and uncertain supplies of food and heat act together to decrease the chances of normal growth and development and good physical health among infants and toddlers. The findings, which appear in the April 12th online issue of the journal Pediatrics, bring attention to remediable conditions that influence the health, development, and growth of America's youngest children.[...] "The current findings raise serious concerns about the future well-being of America's young children, given rising poverty among families with young children and many households' inadequate wages and benefits to meet fluctuating food, housing, and energy costs," explained lead author Deborah A. Frank, MD, director of BMC's Grow Clinic and a Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. "We know that deprivations in early life can become biologically embedded, forcing children onto negative trajectories that jeopardize their health, their school readiness, and their ability to earn a living as adults. We also know that the remedies for many of these hardships are within reach, if our society chooses to prescribe them."

Children's Health Watch. (2010, April 12). BMC pediatricians find link between cumulative hardship and health in low-income young children. [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.childrenshealthwatch.org/page.php?id=220
Full report: Cumulative Hardship and Wellness of Low-Income, Young Children: Multisite Surveillance, Pediatrics, http://www.childrenshealthwatch.org/upload/resource/PEDS_MAY_2010.pdf [posted 7/2/2010]

In 2006, 39% of children in the United States lived in low income families.

Nearly 13 million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level, which is $20,650 a year for a family of four. The number of children living in poverty increased by 11 percent between 2000 and 2006. There are 1.2 million more children living in poverty today than in 2000. Not only are these numbers troubling, the official poverty measure tells only part of the story - it is widely viewed as a flawed metric of economic hardship. Research consistently shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty level to make ends meet. Children living in families with incomes below this level - for 2006, about $41,000 for a family of four - are referred to as low income. Thirty-nine percent of the nation's children - more than 28 million in 2006 - live in low-income families.
Black, Latino, and American Indian children are disproportionately poor, yet white children comprise the largest group of poor children.

• 33% of black children live in poor families.
• 27% of Latino children live in poor families.
• 40% of American Indian and 12% of Asian children live in poor families.
• 10% of white children live in poor families.

Official poverty rates are highest for young children.

• 20% of children under age 6 live in poor families; 16% of children age 6 or older live in poor families.
• In almost half the states, 20% or more of children under age 6 are poor, whereas 13 states have a poverty rate for all children (up to age 18) that is as high.

NOVEMBER 2007, Who are America's Poor Children? The Official Story, by Sarah Fass and Nancy K. Cauthen, National Center for Children in Poverty, New York, NY, http://www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_787.pdf. [posted 4/24/2008]