May 23, 2002 2 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of children living on the threshold of poverty in working families surpassed 10 million in 2000 after increasing throughout the 1990s. The decade saw an overall improvement in the lives of American children, according to the annual Kids Count report. Being released Thursday, the report compares states with one another and with the nation as a whole in 10 categories including death rates, poverty and education.

The improved economy and changes to welfare laws that moved more people into jobs contributed to the increase in the number of children in low-income working families, said William O’Hare, coordinator of the project for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private research and grant-making group that focuses on children.

But with those families earning incomes near the poverty level – less than about $26,000 for a family of four – the news was not all good.

“We’ve got people no longer dependent on the government, but certainly not out of poverty,” O’Hare said. “We haven’t moved a lot of those people into jobs they can support a family with.”

In 1990, 7.6 million kids – representing 12.2 percent of all American children at the time – lived in low-income families with at least one parent working most of the year, O’Hare said. Ten years later, the number of children living in these families had increased to more than 10.2 million, or 14.7 percent of young Americans.

In 1999, the most recent year for which state data were available, New Mexico had the highest rate of children living in low-income working families – 26 percent. Five states – Alaska, Maryland, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Washington – tied at 9 percent, the lowest rate.

The report, based on government data, found that between 1990 and 1999 seven of the 10 categories measuring children’s lives improved. The indicators include children’s chances of surviving infancy and childhood and avoiding becoming a teen parent.

Two areas showed worsening trends:

– In 1990, 7 percent of babies were born weighing less than about 5.5 pounds, putting them at risk of developmental problems. By 1999, it was 7.6 percent, a 9 percent jump explained in part by an increase in fertility treatments leading to more multiple births and older women giving birth.

– The percent of families headed by a single parent increased from 24 percent to 27 percent during the decade.

One indicator, the high school dropout rate, remained steady at 10 percent.

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On the Net:

Kids Count report: http://www.kidscount.org