North Carolina child poverty persists Poverty among children in North Carolina has increased during the past decade in spite of the state s growing economy, says an NC State University sociologist in the latest issue of Quality of Life in North Carolina, a newsletter published by the NC State Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Risman s research shows that 20.3 percent of families with children under the age of 18 were living below the poverty level in 1996 up from 15.6 percent in 1990. Her report provides empirical, sociological documentation to support expanded funding of programs such as Smart Start and Guardian ad Litem, as well as for intervention and treatment programs for mental health services and substance abuse. The consequences of childhood poverty are well documented by research, Risman says.
Poor children are less likely to learn to read well, to test well, or to finish school.
School truants are much more likely to engage in juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior. But 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. Over half of the children living with a single parent in 1996 lived at or near the poverty line up 7 percent in only six years. Race complicates the picture. By 1996, more than half of all nonwhite children lived with single parents.