By Will Hager
Charlotte Sun Times
A recent report shed light on North Carolina’s alarming rate of child poverty, which has increased by a quarter since 2008.
Led by a private philanthropy group, The Annie E. Casey Foundation report analyzes factors related to children’s well-being.
The Charlotte Observer breaks down the Tar Heel State’s standing in the report.
About 566,000 children, or one in four in the state, live in poverty, according to the report. Two other measures of financial stability – children whose parents lack secure employment and teens who are not in school and not working – also worsened since 2008.
North Carolina ranked 35th overall in the report for child well-being. The state tied with Texas and Kentucky for the 11th highest child poverty rate in the country. The federal poverty level for a family of four is $24,250.
Laila Bell, director of research and data for NC Child, told the Observer it takes twice the income of the federal poverty level to adequately provide for children.
Against that standard, the numbers are much more stark, with roughly half the children in the state living in poverty, upwards of a million overall, Bell said.
Source: Impoverished Children in North Carolina Up By 25% Since 2008.