For the first time ever Latino children make up the largest subset of children living in poverty, 6.1 million, according to new data from the Pew Hispanic Center.
In 2010, Latino children accounted for 37.3 percent of all poor children living in poverty, white children made up 30.5 percent of all children living in poverty and black children accounted for 26.6 percent, according to a new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center called “The Toll of the Great Recession; Childhood Poverty Among Hispanics Sets Record, Leads Nation.” Overall Latinos make up 16.3 percent of the U.S. population and account for 23.1 percent of the child population.
Previously, white children were the single largest group of children living in poverty. The trend began to shift in 2007 and by 2010 the number of Latino children living in poverty has risen 1.6 million children, up 36.3 percent.
Despite the latest trends, black children still have the highest poverty rate among all racial and ethnic groups with 39.1 percent of all black children living in poverty. The poverty rate among Latino children is 35 percent and among white children it is 12.4 percent. Since 2007 the poverty rate among Latinos rose the most, by 6.4 percent, but is still much lower than its high of 41.5 percent in 1994. In that time, since 2007, poverty rates among black children rose 4.6 percent and among white children 2.3 percent.
Pew experts point to the Great Recession, continued unemployment, high birth rates and the overall growth of the population as some of the contributing factors in the increase in child poverty among Latinos. Of the 6.1 million Latino children in poverty, 4.1 million are the children of immigrants and 86.2 percent of the children are U.S. citizens, the remaining 2 million are the children of U.S.-born citizens.
The recession, which ended in 2009, heavily impacted the Latino community with increased unemployment. a sharp decrease in overall household wealth and food insecurity.
Currently, nationwide the unemployment rate among Latinos is 11.1 percent compared to an overall unemployment rate of 9.1 percent. According to the report and the U.S. Census Bureau declines in Latino household wealth were deeper than losses for black or white households between 2005 and 2009.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in 2008 that nearly a third of Latino households with children faced concerns about food insecurity, up from less than quarter of such households in 2007.