How child poverty has changed in every county across North Carolina
RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — As North Carolina families struggle with increasing grocery and gas prices, most of the programs that helped low-income families keep their homes and keep food on the table during the pandemic are expiring.
New data shows that pandemic-era policies buffered children in particular against some of the worst impacts of poverty.
NC Child released its annual County Data Cards today, highlighting key indicators of child well-being that elected officials should track, and respond to, in their communities.
“Living in poverty is the single greatest threat to children’s healthy development,” KIDS COUNT Project Director Vikki Crouse said. “We see that across every indicator, from health to education to involvement in the criminal justice system. But we do not have to accept child poverty as a given. The data are showing us that we have the tools to fight child poverty, and they work.”
In 2020, the latest full year with available data, 42.8% of NC children lived in poor or low-income homes.
The five counties with the highest child poverty levels in 2020 included: Scotland (70.2%), Halifax (69.2%), Robeson (66.5%), Tyrrell (64.1%) and Alleghany (63.0%) counties.
The counties with the lowest child poverty levels included: Orange (25.4%), Wake (26.6%), Union (27.1%), Currituck (30.6%) and Gates (31.4%) counties.
Across the state, children most at risk of living in poor or low-income homes include:
- Black and Latinx children. Years of barriers to family economic mobility continue to hold back opportunity from many Black and Latinx children
- Children under age 6, who are more likely to be born to parents who are younger and less financially established
- Children in rural counties, where low incomes are often compounded by limited access to core needs like transportation and health care
