Data shows the overall percentage of children living in poverty in the United States is decreasing, but for Black, Hispanic and American Indian children in Arizona the rate is well above the national average.
The Strong Families Thriving Children 2019 report by the Arizona Town Hall shows how poverty is effecting each racial group in Arizona.
The percentage of children living in poverty in the U.S. decreased by 4% from 22% in 2013 to 18% in 2017, according to the report.
“The overall message of this report is that when you look at too broad of a level, everything just looks average. So we need to drill down to really find out how disproportionate the numbers really are,” said Judy Krysik, one of the authors of the report and director of the Center for Child Well-being at Arizona State University.
In Arizona over the five year period the percentage children living in poverty decreased by 5% from 26% in 2013 to 21% in 2017, according to the report.
The well-being of children depends, in part, on the economic circumstances of their families, Krysik said.
Out of all children in Arizona, American Indians have the highest poverty rate.
American Indians make up 5.3% of the Arizona population. According to the report, 45% of American Indian children lived in poverty in 2017.
With Arizona becoming a minority majority state and Hispanics making up 31.6% of the population in Arizona, according to the report, 27% of Hispanic children lived in poverty in 2017.
Claire Louge, the training director at Prevent Child Abuse Arizona and another author of the report said, the context in which families live and the conditions that the society creates for families affect the rate of these adverse childhood experiences.
Louge explains what adverse childhood experiences are by saying, they are experiences in childhood that are unhappy, unpleasant and hurtful that directly link to a higher risk of developing health and social problems within the child.
Nearly half of Arizona children have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience, according to the report.
These rates increase in populations experiencing poverty as well as historically under-served demographics, including Native American, black and Latino populations, Louge wrote in the report.
When discussing the possible public reception of this report, Erica Quintana, policy analyst for the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, said that The Department of Child Safety is evaluating their policies for communities and are trying to figure out why disproportion exists in these different demographics.
There are many organizations like Phoenix Children’s Project and Prevent Child Abuse Arizona that are tackling the issue of child poverty throughout the state.
The Phoenix Children’s Project is a center in downtown Phoenix that helps underprivileged children learn and play in a safe environment.
Mary Frieling, the owner of the Phoenix Children’s Project said they are “trying to break the chain of children living in poverty.”
“So many times the issues start with the parents,” said Frieling, “so instead of trying to change the parents, we focus on the children.”
Prevent Child Abuse Arizona is also working with individuals in the workforce how to properly treat children whether that is teaching investigators on how to interview children or teaching welfare professionals techniques to strengthen families and improve outcomes for children.
“If you address child maltreatment then you are addressing every other thing that you care about because it is the foundation of so many problems,” Louge said.
Quintana said there are many ways to act on these issues within the communities, the government and the school systems, but first, the issues have to be broken down by the racial groups whose numbers are not improving.
She hopes this report draws attention to the long-lasting and far reaching problems of childhood poverty.
Contact the reporter at llyons6@asu.edu.
