2010 Reports

Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009: Children Under Age 3

Chau, Michelle M.; Thampi, Kalyani; Wight, Vanessa

Children represent 25 percent of the population. Yet, they comprise 36 percent of all people in poverty. Among children, 42 percent live in low-income families and nearly one in every five live in poor families. Our very youngest children, infants and toddlers under age 3, appear to be particularly vulnerable with 46 percent living in low-income and 24 percent living in poor families. Winding up in a low-income or poor family does not happen by chance. There are significant factors related to children's experiences with economic insecurity, such as race/ethnicity and parents' education and employment. This fact sheet describes the demographic, socio-economic, and geographic characteristics of infants and toddlers and their parents — highlighting the important factors that appear to distinguish low-income and poor children in this age group from their less disadvantaged counterparts.