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60% of All Kids in Detroit Are Living Below the Poverty Level -- But Other Cities Are Catching Up Too!

Poor kids in Detroit

According to a recent study by the National Center For Children In Poverty, the poverty rate has decreased by 2 percent between 2012 and 2013. But if you live in one of the nation's largest cities, those numbers don't apply. Why not?

Poverty higher in big cities

Although it seems poverty is improving overall, it's not improving much in the larger cities, like Detroit where the poverty rate is 60 percent. To put this percentage in perspective, compare it with the 19.9 percent poverty rate for all children in the United States in 2013. The fact is, poverty is not looking very well in most large cities.

Unlike poverty levels in most U.S. cities which averages 19.9 percent, the poverty rate is higher in big cities. In large cities, the poverty rate is more like 30 percent, with some significantly higher.

Here are some examples:
  • Detroit - 56.6% of kids
  • Cleveland - 54.5% of kids
  • Buffalo - 50.6% of kids
  • Fresno - 47.9% of kids
  • Cincinnati - 46.3% of kids

Why?

Some of the reasons speculated to cause the higher poverty rate for children living in large cities is due to reduction of industry jobs, and the downturn in housing markets and decrease in construction-related jobs. The alarming poverty rates in larger cities affects children's current and future outcome. As Curtis Skinner, director of Family Economic Security at the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), observed, "Reducing child poverty is critical to the social and economic health of cities, now and in the future."

To read more, visit www.bet.com/news/health/2014/12/08/nearly-one-third-of-american-children-live-in-poverty.html


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