Childhood
Poverty in New Mexico
I have not received a
response from my international contact so I visited the website www.childhoodpoverty.org to research
poverty in New Mexico. According to research conducted in 2011 there were 116,515
families living in New Mexico with 169,540 young children. There are 32% (54,254) of young
children live in poor families (National: 25%), defined as income below 100% of
the federal poverty level.
The federal poverty
level is $22,350 for a family of four. Children living in families with incomes
below the federal poverty level are referred to as poor. But research suggests
that, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty
level to meet their basic needs.
Parents'
Employment Status in New Mexico, by Income Level in 2011 was:
·
31%
(16,792) of young children in poor families have at least one parent who is
employed full-time, year-round compared to 80% (92,236) of young children in
not poor families.
·
40%
(21,627) of young children in poor families have at least one parent who is
employed either part-year or part-time compared to 15% (17,001) of young
children in not poor families.
·
29%
(15,835) of young children in poor families do not have an employed parent
compared to 5% (6,049) of young children in not poor families.
Education
Status:
·
65%
of young children whose parents do not have a high school degree are considered
poor families.
·
42%
of young children whose parents have a high school education fall in the same
statues.
·
20%
of young children whose parents have some college or more live in poor
families.
Young Children in Poor Families in New Mexico, by Race, 2011
·
16%
of young white children live in poor families.
·
38%
of young Hispanic children live in poor families.
·
41%
of young American Indian children live in poor families.
·
51%
of young children of immigrant parents live in poor families.
·
29%
of young children of native-born parents live in poor families.
We are
faced with a growing concern of poverty and how it is affecting children’s
lives. This is why we need to be a voice for families around the world to help
decrease the number of children and families living in poverty.
Sheila,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this information with us about childhood poverty in New Mexico and opening up my eyes even more about the severity of childhood poverty. I also tried to visit childhoodpoverty.org, but unlike you I was unable to connect to the website. The numbers and percentages you listed are outrageous. I agree 100% with you that we need to be a voice for so many families around the world in hopes that we can decrease these numbers. I know it will definitely take time, but as much as we can work toward it the better.
Thank you.
Shelia, I see that you went above and beyond of what was expected in the assignment. You listed a lot of interesting facts and I really enjoyed reading it. You really taught me a lot about New Mexico and the issues with childhood poverty in the country. I really feel sorry for the people in the country that have to deal with the large numbers of childhood poverty. I hope to be able to help them one day.
ReplyDeleteSheila, I couldn't agree with you more. We must be a voice for our children and their families. This post was very informative and one message that I heard over and over again was the leak of formal education for their children. It seems that until this cycle is broken and all children begin to receive a formal education they will not be able to move away from their levels of poverty.
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