The fact that nearly half of all young children in the U.S. live in poverty or near poverty demonstrates that young child poverty is a mainstream problem, affecting children from all racial and ethnic backgrounds, from all types of residential areas, and from all regions of the United States. The infant mortality rate is closely linked to inadequate nutrition among pregnant women. The U.S. ranks 23rd among industrial nations in infant mortality. African-American infants die at nearly twice the rate of white infants. A 1995 study by Tufts University estimates that 20 to 30 million Americans are too poor to meet their monthly expenses and buy enough food to live healthy productive lives.
Young children are more likely to be poor than any other age group, and that disparity is growing.
The poverty rate for children under age three was well over double the rate for adults or the elderly in 1995. A child living in a wealthy U.S. family is on average, better off financially than the typical wealthy child in any other country. At the same time, the average child in a low-income U.S. family is worse off than the average poor child in 15 other industrialized countries. All rights reserved.