A U.S. family of three living in deep poverty survives on an annual income below $9,276, or less than $9.00 a day per family member. The struggle to raise children on such a meager income is not a rare circumstance among U.S. families, especially those with young children. Currently, 11 percent of young children (0-9 years) live in households with…

This paper focuses on why metropolitan areas vary in their capacity to translate generally high employment rates into economic opportunity for the disadvantaged. Data come from the Urban Institute's Urban Underclass Database, which includes poverty and employment data for 1980 and 1990 for the 100 largest metropolitan areas down to the Census…

The Child Care and Development Block Grant Program (CCDBG) provides child care services for low-income families and activities to improve the overall quality and supply of child care for families in general. This report provides information on the characteristics of the children served at Arkansas CCDBG sites during 1996-97. Statistics are…

The Child Care and Development Fund Program (CCDF) brings together four Federal Child Care Subsidy programs and allows states to design a comprehensive, integrated service delivery system to meet the needs of low-income working families. This fund assists low-income families and those transitioning off welfare to obtain child care so that they can…

This report presents information on the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program in light of efforts at welfare reform. Following a listing of whom to call at the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) regarding various welfare issues, the report's first section, "Basic Facts on Welfare," presents information on the AFDC in a…

This report examines the causes and effects of Appalachian poverty, focusing on education, unemployment, social services, and economic development. The data in the report were extracted from the 1980 U.S. Census. Although there has been a steady decline in Appalachian poverty rates since the landmark 1964 declaration of a War on Poverty,…

This first annual report of Minnesota KIDS COUNT focuses on key indicators of children's well-being and details the condition of children in each of Minnesota's 87 counties. Minnesota KIDS COUNT--as part of a campaign by Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota and Congregations Concerned for Children to end child poverty in Minnesota--collects,…

In a county by county analysis, this report assesses the quality of life for Kentucky's children. Researchers developed a child quotient (CQ) based on 18 indicators: per capita income, children in poverty, women receiving inadequate prenatal care, infant deaths, teens giving birth, substandard dwellings, children in foster care, per-pupil…

In the past decade, there has been a sharp increase in awareness of how interventions that address multiple risk factors and target both children and their families can help ensure that children grow up healthy and able to learn. In 1995, the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) undertook a project to "map" state initiatives…