According to The Hispanic Institute there is a new fear among the Hispanic community in the United States… per Child Trends nearly 1/3 of Hispanic Children live in households in poverty.
Upon recent examination, this is one of the most pressing issues facing Hispanic children and families.
Latino children, youth, and families are a large, fast-growing and diverse segment of the U.S. population, representing 16% of our nation’s population and 25% of of our nations children. 62% of Hispanic children live in low-income families (defined as incomes less than twice the federal poverty level, just meeting basic needs).
This means that while 1 in 3 Hispanic children lives in poverty… 1 in 8 lives in deep poverty (family income less than half the poverty line).
In fact, the research goes on to show the disparity between Hispanic and white children in economic well-being, where in married-parent families: 1 in 9 white children living with married parents is in poverty, whereas it is more than 1 in 5 within the Hispanic community.
You see, this is the thing about poverty, it goes way beyond the material aspect and bleeds it’s way into communities and the principles which end up consuming the potential of having positively fueled futures. When children experience poverty they are at a much higher risk for retrieving negative ballots in their box, whether that may be… poor health due to lack of health insurance, lower school performance- because parents had to work multiple jobs and didn’t have the luxury of sitting down to do homework with their children, lack of economic stability can lead to delinquent behavior– since unemployment is at a higher rate… committing crimes to contribute to the family bottom line– can become a habitual norm within communities under such stresses. In addition, dependence on public assistance can also have it’s drawbacks– creating a society that lacks incentive in working hard to create their eon successes.
Even something so simple that most American Children take for granted, like having the privacy of their own bedroom, can be considered a luxury and a mere dream to many Hispanic Children… Where 1 in 4 shares a bedroom with 3 or more family members!
The domino effect can be quite detrimental, read more about the latest stats @ ChildTrends.org
If you are wondering how strong the familial bond between Hispanics runs? It is like no other… In fact, Latino children are more likely than white or even black peers to eat a home cooked family meal six or even seven days in a week!!!!