Second, even if parents played by the rules and worked full-time, the YCPR grew over this period. So their solutions, embodied in national and state welfare reform legislation is to change the societal incentive structures for marriage and work. Our analyses suggest that their are elements of truth to both point of views. What is required at the national level is a set of strategies that effectively address the multiple causes for the growth in child poverty . And because states vary in condition, the solutions to child poverty should be tailored to states.
States also vary greatly in their rates of growth.
It may not surprise you that West Virginia and Louisiana were among the states with the fastest growth rates. This dramatic rate of growth is surprising in part because it has occurred in one of the most prosperous states in the nation. Hence, it becomes vitally important to understand how and why Connecticut's child poverty rates has grown so dramatically. Connecticut can teach the nation about the causes of increasing child poverty in a prosperous society. More importantly, it has the opportunity to teach the nation how to develop the public will and the social strategies needed to turn its abundant resources to the task of reducing child poverty.