Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2010: Children Under Age 3

Children represent 24 percent of the population. Yet, they comprise 34 percent of all people in poverty. Among all children, 44 percent live in low-income families and approximately one in every five (21 percent) live in poor families. Our very youngest children, infants and toddlers under age 3, appear to be particularly vulnerable, with 48 percent living in low-income families, including 25 percent living in poor families. Winding up in a low-income or poor family does not happen by chance. There are a range of factors associated with children's experiences of economic insecurity, including race/ethnicity and parents' educational attainment and employment. This fact sheet, which is an update to the series based on the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS), describes the demographic, socio-economic, and geographic characteristics of children and their parents -- highlighting the important factors that appear to distinguish low-income and poor children from their less disadvantaged counterparts