Childhood Poverty in America

 

The United States consistently has one of the highest rates of childhood poverty in the world

- UNICEF

 

Hunger and poverty should never be a barrier to a child's education. Period.  The deck shouldn't be stacked against kids who are in circumstances they can't control.  Below are a few facts illustrating how deeply connected poverty and a lack of nourishment are for little hearts and little minds. Together, we hope to fill some of these gaps. 

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#achievementgap

• Children living in poverty have a higher number of absenteeism or leave school all together because they are more likely to have to work or care for a family member at home

• Dropout rates are 7x higher for low income kids than for kids from families with higher incomes

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#wordgap

• By the age of 3, children born into low-income families heard roughly 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers

• This gap compounds the achievement gap between the poor and the better-off in school and life

• Reading aloud is the best way to help children develop word mastery and grammatical understanding (EdSource)

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#diapergap

"Many parents are struggling to afford diapers and making choices no one should have to make. This can lead to serious health problems for babies and parents. Young children can end up hospitalized with problems like urinary tract or staph infections. Imagine the stress of not being able to afford the basics that your baby needs – not a small matter for struggling parents and caregivers. When families can’t afford a healthy number of diapers for their babies, they’re faced with a choice between buying diapers and paying for food, rent, or utilities like heat. That’s a choice that no family should have to make." - The White House

 

#endchildpoverty #growthegood #fillthegap​

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