Children go hungry when family income is so low. More than 1.2 million Southern households experienced hunger in 1995 according to the U.S. Agriculture Department, and another three million households lacked secure access to food. More than seven out of 10 poor Southern families with children had a family member who worked in 1996, a higher proportion than in the nation. But more than one in four Southern working parents earns hourly wages too low to escape poverty. Merely ending welfare as we know it by shredding the safety net further will not help them.
Poverty affects children of all races.
Southern child poverty is generally highest in the central cities of metropolitan areas. However, portions of the rural South contain much of the nation's worst child poverty, particularly for Black and Hispanic children. This means higher infant mortality and health problems for children. Poor children score lower on reading and math tests, suffer more mental and physical disabilities, and earn 25 percent lower wages as young adults. Poor children are twice as likely as nonpoor children to be born weighing too little, to suffer stunted growth, or to repeat a year of school.