Statistics on Poverty in Missouri

Statistics on Poverty in Missouri & the U.S.

$11.12 The hourly wage needed to afford rent on a typical two-bedroom apartment in Missouri. That’s more than twice the minimum wage. (National Low- Income Housing Coalition)
A Social Security recipient (receiving $545 monthly) can afford monthly rent of no more than $164, while the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit is $442.

$5,239 The average annual cost of child care for a 1-year-old in Missouri. (Children’s Defense Fund)

38% The percentage of household income that goes for home energy for the lowest-income Missourians. (National Low Income Energy Consortium)

75% The percentage of hourly wage earners in the bottom one-fifth of earnings who do not have health insurance through their jobs. (Economic Policy Institute)

637,891 The number of Missourians living at or below federal poverty level. (U.S. Census Bureau)

16% The percentage of Missouri children living in poverty. (U.S. Census Bureau)
In 2000, 15.3%, or 215,323 Missouri children lived in families whose income was below the federal poverty line.
In 2000, 7% of children lived in extreme poverty (family income below 50% of the poverty level).
In an average month, 48,775 families, including 78,811 children, receive cash assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
28.1%, or 395,463 children received Food Stamp benefits in 2003.
342,608 or 39.2% of Missouri students were enrolled in the free/reduced price lunch program in 2003.
Of Missouri's total child support enforcement caseload, 51.1% of cases had any collections in 2003.
In 2000, 346,354 or 24.3% of Missouri children lived in single-parent families
25% of children lived in working poor families in 2000
In 2000, 23% of children lived in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
37.2%, or 523,435 children were enrolled in Missouri's Medicaid program in 2003
6% of Missouri children had no health insurance coverage in 2000
4.4% of the children tested in 2003 had dangerously elevated levels of lead in their blood
43,287 children received subsidized child care in 2003
9,015 students dropped out of public schools in the 2002-2003 school year
14,277 infants were born to mothers with less than 12 years of education in 2003, representing 18.6% of all live births. These children have the highest chance of growing up in poverty.

One Day in the Life of Missouri's Children

16 babies are born at low birth weight
238 calls are made to the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline
25 teens drop out of school
24 teens give birth
212,369 children live in poverty
2 babies die before their first birthday
1 child dies or a teen dies violently

People are Hungry in Missouri

In 1999 over one million Missourians, almost one in five, sought help from food banks. This number has been increasing rapidly. Missouri has six large food banks that provide food to agencies in all Missouri counties. According to their distribution information:

Columbia’s Central Missouri Food Bank provides food to 31 counties. Over the past five years it has experienced a 300% increase and now helps 50,000 persons per month.
Ozarks Food Harvest in Springfield distributes in 37 counties. An average of 20,000 different people receive food each month, over 10,000 of them are children or fixed-income senior citizens
America's Second Harvest in St. Joseph works with counties in Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas. Each month over 14,000 receive help. Most are children, seniors, and the "working poor.”
The Bootheel Food Bank in Sikeston, through 16 southeast Missouri counties, serves 21,000 people each month.
The St. Louis Area Food Bank provides assistance to 44,000 people each week through 400 agencies in 26 counties on both sides of the river. Agencies are running out of food due to 10 to15 % increases in requests.
Kansas City Harvesters network provides food for 50,000 different people each week, through over 500 locations in 13 counties.

Rural Homelessness

· One of every four rural families pays too much for their housing, and 189 of the nation's 200 poorest counties are rural.

· Rural minorities are disproportionately poor. The overall rural poverty rate is 14.6 %, while 33 % of African Americans, 27 % of Hispanics, and 30 % of Native Americans in rural areas are poor.

· Nearly 30 % of non-metro households – more than 6.2 million – have at least one major housing problem.

· Funding for federal rural housing programs has not kept pace with need.

Poverty by County

Atchison - 6,286 residents, 11.6% live below the poverty level

Gentry - 6,566 residents, 12 % live below the poverty level

Holt - 5,145 residents, 13% live below poverty level

Nodaway - 21,743 residents, 16.5% live below poverty level

Worth - 2,270 residents, 14.3% live below poverty level

Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Birth to Age 18

What was the federal poverty level (FPL) in 2005?

$19,350 for a family of 4.
$16,090 for a family of 3.
$12,830 for a family of 2.

Is a poverty-level income enough to support a family?

Research suggests that, on average, families need an income equal to about two times the federal poverty level to meet their most basic needs. Families with incomes below this level are referred to as low income:

$38,700 for a family of 4.
$32,180 for a family of 3.
$25,660 for a family of 2.

These figures approximate the average minimum income families need to make ends meet, but actual expenses vary greatly by locality. A family of 4 in Boston needs annual earnings of about $49,000; the same family needs $38,000 in Chicago, and $36,000 in Atlanta.

How many children in the United States live in low-income families?

There are approximately 70 million children in the United States.

38%—almost 27 million—live in low-income families.
17%—more than 11 million—live in poor families.

Percentage of children by family income, 2003

Have these numbers changed over time?

After a decade of decline, the proportion of children living in low-income families is rising again, a trend that began in 2000.

Percentage of children living in low-income families, 1990-2003

What are the family characteristics of low-income children?

Parental Employment

55% of all children in low-income families—14.7 million—have at least one parent who works full-time, year-round.
28% of all children in low-income families—7.6 million—have at least one parent who works part-time or full-time, part-year.
17% of all children in low-income families—4.6 million—do not have an employed parent.

Parental Education

26% of children in low-income families—6.9 million—live with parents who have less than a high school education.
36% of children in low-income families—9.6 million—live with parents who have only a high school diploma.
39% of children in low-income families—10.4 million—live with parents who have more than a high school education.

Percentage of children living in low-income families, by parent’s education level, 2003

Family Structure

50% of children in low-income families—13.4 million—are headed by a single parent.
50% of children in low-income families—13.5 million—are headed by married parents.

Does the percentage of children in low-income families vary by children’s ages?

Young children are disproportionally low income. 42% of children under age 6—nearly 10 million—live in low-income families.

43% of children under age 3 years—4.7 million—live in low-income families.
42% of children ages 3 and 4 years—3.4 million—live in low-income families.
40% of children age 5 years—1.5 million—live in low-income families.
39% of children ages 6 through 12 years—10.5 million—live in low-income families.
33% of children ages 13 through 17 years—6.7 million—live in low-income families.

Percentage and number of children living in low-income and poor families, by age group, 2003

Does the percentage of children in low-income families vary by race and ethnicity?

62% of Latino children—8.2 million—live in low-income families.
60% of Black children—6.0 million—live in low-income families.
28% of Asian children—0.8 million—live in low-income families.
26% of White children—10.9 million—live in low-income families.

Although Latino and black children are disproportionately low income, whites comprise the largest group of low-income children.

Percentage of children living in low-income families, by race and ethnicity, 2003

Does the percentage of children in low-income families vary by parent’s country of origin?

58% of children of immigrant parents—6.7 million—live in low-income families.
35% of children of native-born parents—19.1 million—live in low-income families.

Does the percentage of children in low-income families vary by where children live?

Region

43% of children in the South—10.7 million—live in low-income families.
40% of children in the West —6.8 million—live in low-income families.
33% of children in the Northeast—4.0 million—live in low-income families.
33% of children in the Midwest—5.2 million—live in low-income families.

Type of Area

Percentage and number of children living in low-income families, in urban, suburban, and rural areas, 2003

Residential Instability

20% of children in low-income families—5.4 million—have moved in the last year.
10% of children in above low-income families—3 million—moved last year.

Endnotes:

This fact sheet is part of the National Center for Children in Poverty’s demographic fact sheet series and is updated annually. Estimates, unless otherwise noted, were prepared by Ayana Douglas-Hall and Heather Koball of NCCP based on the Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, March 2004. Only children who live with at least one parent are counted in the fact sheet.

These numbers are from the federal poverty guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The demographic findings in this fact sheet were calculated using a more complex version of the federal poverty measure—the thresholds issued by the U.S. Census Bureau. More information about federal poverty measures is available at <aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/05poverty.shtml>.

For county statistics about Missouri's children, please go to the Kids Count webpage or CMC's reports and publications

For more information on Missouri Census QuickFacts, please go to Missouri QuickFacts

Information also provided by MACA