What does this measure?

The estimated number of children under 18 living below the federally defined poverty line, expressed as a percentage of all children under 18 and reported by various racial and ethnic groups. Poverty thresholds vary by family composition and year. In 2022, the threshold for a four-person family was $29,678.

Why is this important?

Children raised in impoverished environments are at higher risk for a wide variety of health and social problems, including poor performance in school. The challenges they face in childhood can diminish their chances for successful adult lives.

How is the region performing?

In 2018-22, poverty was highest among African American (21%) and Hispanic (17%) children in the Mid-Hudson Valley region. The rate was lower for white children (14%). The rate for white children increased 1 percentage point since 2008-12. Since 2008-12, the rate has decreased by 4% for African American children and 2% for Hispanic children in the region. There were similar racial and ethnic disparities in New York State (excluding New York City) and the nation, but the region's poverty rate for African American and Hispanic children was lower than both the state and the nation, while the region's poverty rate for white children was slightly higher than both.

Among individual counties in the region, Ulster had among the higher poverty rates for Hispanic children (29%), while Sullivan had a relatively high rate for white children (20%). Reliable data for the cities, towns and villages in the region was sparse in 2018-22. Child populations for most local areas, when broken down by race and ethnicity, were too small to yield reliable survey results.

Why do these disparities exist?

As people of color have historically and contemporaneously been locked out of economic opportunity in many ways, poverty crosses generations, and child poverty rates are higher. Factors include: living in a single-parent household, especially if the single parent is female; having parent(s) who are unemployed, employed and/or underemployed in low-wage jobs or incarcerated; and living in communities that have experienced disinvestment and have ineffective and/or under-resourced schools.

Notes about the data

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval).

The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Poverty status is not reported for people in institutions, including college dormitories and military barracks, and people in living situations without conventional housing. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.