When we picture children in poverty, what do we see? The large eyes and thin features of a foreign child in a "Save the Children" ad? Or perhaps inner-city American kids struggling against the odds—minority kids, immigrants, children of teenagers?

But child poverty has many faces. More than 70 percent of the American children living in poverty are the children of working families. Although the percentages of black and Hispanic children in poverty are higher, the majority of poor children in this country are white, and live in two-parent homes in rural and suburban areas.

On Friday, February 23, the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) hosted its second in a series of audio conferences, bringing together three leading children's advocates to discuss child poverty. On hand were Mayor Bill Purcell of Nashville, Tennessee, Marian Wright Edelman of The Children's Defense Fund and Larry Aber of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University. CLASP senior policy analyst Jodie Levin-Epstein moderated the talk.

Connect for Kids listened in. Here's what we learned.

Child Poverty in America: The Hard Truth

Despite the recent decline in child poverty rates, an American child is born into poverty every 44 seconds, and one child in six is poor—that's over 13 million children, according to the National Center for Children in Poverty. Nearly three-quarters of these kids are in families where at least one parent works.

"There are more children in poverty today than when Dr. King called for a poor people's campaign in 1966," says Marion Wright Edelman. "They've become too invisible. In the richest nation on earth in the best possible economy, this should not be so."

How America Compares

According to Larry Aber, we are behind most other major western industrialized democracies—our poverty rates are generally two to three times higher. "No one is worse off than we are," he says. "And no one performs as poorly in translating national wealth into anti-poverty supports as we do."

"Eight-eight countries have family allowances and no other nation lets its children go without health care. ? We know how to provide quality nutrition programs and good health care. The issue is about our motivation to do so," says Edelman.

The effects of poverty on kids are wide-reaching. For example, a child growing up in a poor family is more likely to have asthma and other chronic illness, including lead poisoning and nutritional problems, and less likely to perform well in school.

Single Parents and Poverty: A Complicated Link

Much has been made about the issue of single parenting and poverty. Some, like the Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector, argue that the dissolution of marriage is the primary cause of child poverty in the United States. A recent Unicef report, cited by moderator Jodie Levin-Epstein, describes single parent families as a primary cause of child poverty.

But the U.S. numbers tell a different story. "Eighty-three percent of American kids live in two-parent families," says Larry Aber. "The poverty rate is 16 percent [for those children]. Seventeen percent live in one-parent families, for whom the poverty rate is 55 percent."

Although the proportion of kids in poverty is higher among single-parent families, 13 percent of American children live in poor two-parent families, and nine percent in poor one-parent families.

"Even if all children lived in two-parent families," Aber explains, "we'd still have one of the highest child poverty rates among industrialized countries."

Taxes and the Poor

Earned Income Tax Credit
Research by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) and others finds that earned income tax credit (EITC) has been effective in lifting working poor families out of poverty, largely because it's refundable—paid even to families who, because their incomes are so low, do not pay any income taxes. In 1998, the national EITC, sometimes called the earned income credit or EIC, brought 4.3 million people out of poverty, half of them children.

In 2000, according to NCCP, 15 states and the District of Columbia offered a state EITC to working families, in addition to the federal credit. But four of these states offer an EITC that is not refundable. "If it's not refundable," says the Center's Larry Aber, "it has no anti-poverty effect, as we've discovered through research."

Child Tax Credit

The issue of refundable credit is at the center of another debate about tax programs: the Child Tax Credit, which helps taxpayers raising dependent children. As part of his tax plan, President Bush has proposed doubling the maximum credit families can claim from $500 to $1000 per child.

Unless the child tax credit is refundable, a significant number of working poor families will be left out. "We agree with the president's plan to double the credit to $1000, because families need help with the costs of raising children," says Edelman. "What we're not glad about is that it isn't now refundable. If it is not made refundable, more than 16 million children in families who do not have income tax liability are not helped."

Talking About Taxes

For children's advocates faced with the argument that only people who pay income tax should get money back, Edelman and Aber suggest emphasizing the fact that every working family pays some taxes—payroll taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes.

"It makes no sense to restrict the help just to families with higher incomes while leaving out those who need it most," says Edelman. "We regularly use the tax system to help programs we see as valuable. Texaco, Goodyear and others have received more in tax relief than they paid, even though they were making a profit."

For more information on how tax policies affect kids and families, visit the Joint Center for Poverty Research's EITC section [1], the NCCP [2] site and the Children's Defense Fund [3].

• Advocates must come together. Says Edelman, "Advocates often work in fragmented ways, but we must all pitch in when opportunity comes to work with others. Child care advocates must work with housing advocates and tax advocates [for example] ... we cannot lose sight of overall vision of what all children need."
• How we talk about children in poverty is important. Whether talking to members of Congress, reporters or local activists and neighbors, communications research by the National Center for Children in Poverty's Let's Invest in Families Today (LIFT) initiative finds that how messages are delivered is critical. Says Aber, "We have to wed framing, language and marketing strategies with best policy strategies. Learning how to talk about [child poverty] effectively is important."

  For more information on language and delivering your message with power, read Connect for Kids report, Effective Language for Communicating Children's Issues [4]. (You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader [5].)

• As we talk, we must focus on solutions. "Tell stories, go out and take legislative and community leaders and let them see the struggle of working families and that there are local and policy solutions," says Edelman.

Learn more about the CLASP Audio Conferences [6] on their site.