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. Of them, more than 68 percent lived near or at the poverty line, compared to 32 percent of white children living with a single parent living in poverty. Childhood poverty needs intervention early and continually, Risman s report states.