Children's Defense Fund says one in five American children poor

March 24, 2000
Web posted at: 6:42 p.m. EST (2342 GMT)

In this story: Recommendations America's 'spiritual poverty' Women power RELATED STORIES, SITES

NEW YORK (CNN) -- With tears in her eyes, Margie Barrientos talks about poverty and her four children. "It's not easy for them," says the single, working mother whose needy family is far from unique in the wealthiest nation on earth.
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RESOURCES Highlights from "The State of America's Children"     MESSAGE BOARD Child poverty    VIDEO Go to the Barrientos family's apartment with CNN Frank Buckley to see what their life is like. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Interview with Marian Wright Edelman, head of the Children's Defense Fund (Part 1) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Part 2 of Edelman interview QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     AUDIO Marian Wright Edelman's four steps for improving the lives of children Part 1: 432k/32 sec.  AIFF or WAV sound Part 2: 116k/10 sec.  AIFF or WAV sound Part 3: 232k/24 sec.  AIFF or WAV sound Part 4: 320k/30 sec.  AIFF or WAV sound Edelman says one child out of every five in the United States lives in poverty 104K/10 sec. AIFF or WAV sound       ALSO Advocacy group: Poor children need to be counted in census

A report released Friday by the Children's Defense Fund puts the number of poor children in the United States at 13.5 million -- that's one in five -- with more than 70 percent of them part of working families like the Barrientos.

But contrary to stereotype, more of America's poor children "are white than black and brown. More of them live in suburban, rural (areas) and small towns than in inner cities," says Marian Wright Edelman, who heads the Washington-based children's advocacy group.

Such poverty statistics are just part of an annual report called The State of America's Children, which compiles data and reviews developments on issues including child health, education and juvenile justice. (Highlights from the report)

Going beyond the problems it found, the Children's Defense Fund also urges several steps toward improving the climate in which children are raised.

In an interview with CNN, Edelman said solutions to some societal ills lie with government while, in other cases, problem-solving should begin at home. Some of her recommendations:

• Provide adequate health care to the 11.9 million children without insurance. "States need to ... let parents know about the availability of health care."
• Expand food programs "so that no child goes hungry."
• Hire more teachers but strive to fill openings without lowering standards.
• Spend government budget surpluses on specific programs to help children.

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• Raise salaries and expand the earned income tax credit for the working poor. "You can work full-time at minimum wage and not be able to raise your child out of poverty. We've got to raise the minimum wage and allow poor people to keep more money in their pockets."
• Regulate guns, which Edelman calls "the one unregulated, dangerous consumer product."

To better the lives of America's children, the country also must address its "profound spiritual problem," a step where parents must take the lead, Edelman says.

"There are millions of well-to-do children who are suffering from the spiritual poverty of affluenza. They've got a whole lot of things, but they don't have a sense of purpose and a sense of inner core," she told CNN.

Children "see us with all this wealth and opportunity, but they don't see us sharing it. They don't see us being tolerant of others," Edelman said. "Everybody has to say, 'Is my conduct such that I would want my child or grandchild or any other child to see it and to do it. Am I making it easier for harder for this child to grow up healthy and moral?' "

In her pro-children crusade, Edelman also faults President Bill Clinton, a longtime friend, for "missed opportunities," and urges him to "provide the leadership to see that our children are better off."

"There should not be 13.5 million poor children under his watch," she said.

Urging mothers and grandmothers to become more active in seeking change to benefit children, Edelman says male decision-makers "have had the opportunity to protect children, but somehow their priorities don't seem to result" in fewer at-risk children.

President of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman ( 241 K/21 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Every elected official on the federal and state level -- including governors -- should be "adopted by a well-informed, well-organized group of determined women and their allies with a focused agenda for children," she writes in the foreword to The State of America's Children.

For all of these proposals the goal is the same -- improving the lives of all children, including those of Margie Barrientos, whose income as a seamstress is quickly exhausted after payments for rent, food, utilities and medicine for her chronically ill daughter.

While the family's situation is grim, it's not without hope. "I still thank God for what we have," says the mother, "because at least we have food on the table. We have warmth that keeps us. And we have each other."
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Correspondent Frank Buckley contributed to this report, written by Jim Morris.

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Children's Defense Fund
  •  The State of America's Children Yearbook 2000

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