By 1996 the percentage was up to 25.9. Approximately one out of four children in North Carolina were living at or near the poverty line in 1996, the last year for which Census data are now available. Part of the answer lies in the large gap between family incomes of children raised in single-parent households and those living in households with two parents in residence. Children of single mothers are clearly at risk for poverty and all its consequent problems. Race Not all children in single-parent households are equally at risk for poverty.
Race complicates the picture.
An important issue to clarify is why our strong state economy has not worked effectively to lift more of our children from poverty. Children are more likely now than in the past to live at or near the poverty level, even with a parent working full time. The problem of poverty among employed parents is most glaring among single parents and nonwhite parents. First, there has been a dramatic increase in the percentage of children living in poverty among those whose single parents work full time. In 1990, 25.8 percent of the children of single parents who were employed full time still lived at or near the poverty level.