(RALEIGH) — A Kids Count Data Snapshot on High Poverty Communities released recently shows there has been a surge in the number of children living in high-poverty communities. In North Carolina, the number of children living in concentrated poverty has almost doubled since 2000.
Laura Speer, Associate Director of Policy Reform at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.said the data also highlights the children most likely to live in high-poverty communities. “For children of color in the United States they’re much more likely to have poverty within their households be compounded by also living in a high poverty neighborhood and all the things that that means,” said Speer.
African-American, American Indian and Latino children are six to nine times more likely to live in high-poverty communities than their white counterparts, according to Speer. And no matter race or ethnicity, children in the south and southwest are also more likely to live in areas of concentrated poverty.
Laila Bell with Action for Children North Carolina said in North Carolina, it is not always about the issue of unemployment. “Even for children that live in households where someone is currently working, they may be living in these communities or areas where there is a high concentration of the number of people in poverty,” said Bell.
Bell added that the northeastern part of North Carolina has the highest concentration of children living in communities of high poverty.