Annual Report

FROM THE DIRECTOR

What’s at Stake

Every generation wants the next one to succeed. But far too many of our nation’s children are growing up in families that struggle just to make ends meet. Their parents are working hard, yet these families face chronic insecurity about how to pay the bills, put food on the table, and afford needed medical care.

The future prosperity and security of our country depend on today’s children. To ensure that children thrive, we must support their parents in achieving economic stability, nurturing children’s early development, and safeguarding their physical and mental health.

These are the goals of the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). As the nation’s leading public policy center focusing on low-income families, NCCP works to transform research into real progress. We gather, synthesize and evaluate the most timely and significant findings in a complex field. Then, through our publications and unique web-based tools, we put this critical information in the hands of the policymakers, service providers, and funders who have the power to make a difference in children’s lives.

Despite dramatic economic growth for our nation as a whole over the last generation, 39 percent of U.S. children live in low-income families, a percentage that continues to grow. The raw number is staggering: more than 28 million children have parents who are unable to meet their family’s basic needs.

It’s not that these parents aren’t trying. More than 80 percent of the children living in low-income families have at least one parent who works; 55 percent have a parent who works full-time, year-round. The harsh reality is that, despite our society’s deeply held work ethic, a great many jobs simply do not pay enough to support a family. Nearly 35 million Americans – one quarter of the U.S. labor force – are earning poverty-level wages, with little opportunity for advancement.

For these parents, life is a series of untenable choices: Do they pay the heating bill, or buy groceries? …entrust their children to safe and reliable childcare, or choose a less costly but riskier arrangement?

The reality that children in poor and low-income families do worse on almost any indicator is well known. What is far less well known is why policy matters, and how we can use policy as a tool to improve outcomes for these children. Policy is the “open sesame” to effective services and supports that allow children to succeed when families do not have enough money. The tools that NCCP has developed and the analyses we do can help policymakers make smarter choices. It is time for America to address the reality that we have more than 28 million children who need more from society than we are giving them.

Preventing and reducing childhood poverty is not only doing what’s right and just – it’s also one of the smartest investments a society can make.

Jane Knitzer , EdD
Director, NCCP