The Impact of Poverty on Child Care

January 7, 2022

Defining Poverty

Although there are various definitions of poverty, data from the National Center for Children in Poverty is based on the federal poverty threshold (FPT). The NCCP defines low income as families who are below 100 percent and between 100 and 199 percent of the federal poverty threshold (FPT).

The FPT, however, is far below the income that most families need to thrive. In 2019, the federal poverty guideline was $25,750 for a family of four—which means that four people living together with a combined annual income below $25,750 would be considered a family living in poverty. This guideline, however, applies to the entire country—and does not take into account the major geographic differences in the cost of housing and other expenses.

According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, there are 74.1 million children under the age of 18 years in the United States; 38 percent of those children live in low-income families. Of the 15 million children under the age of 9, 40 percent are deemed low-income.

Poverty in North Carolina and Onslow County

In 2019, 1 in 5 North Carolinians under the age of 18, or over 430,000 children, lived in poverty; of that group, the poverty rate for children under the age of 5 was the highest for any age group at 22 percent. In Onslow County, the numbers are more staggering: 49.2 percent of children in our community live in poor or low-income homes.

How Poverty Impacts Growth and Development

Living in poverty has a wide range of negative effects on a child’s mental, physical, and emotional health. Studies have shown that children who are living in poverty are at a greater risk for poor academic achievement, abuse and neglect, behavioral and socioemotional problems, developmental delays, and more.

These outcomes are linked to the fact that the first 2,000 days of a child’s life is the single most significant period of development. 90 percent of a child’s brain growth occurs between birth and the age of 3, making an early childhood education program that nurtures a child’s development absolutely vital.

Three landmark studies—the Chicago Child-Parent Centers, the Abecedarian program in North Carolina, and the High/Scope Perry Preschool in Michigan discovered that children who attended high-quality preschools did significantly better as adults in numerous ways: economic performance, health, education, and criminal record.

Barriers to Success

High-quality child care programs are the backbone of our communities—in Onslow County and beyond. Unfortunately, families with young children who live in poverty face many barriers and challenges—from access to affordability.

Cost: For poor families, paying for child care can require almost one-third of their budget, whereas families who are not in poverty only spend about 10 percent of their income on child care expenses. Public programs, such as the Early Head Start program, are provided under the federal and state Child Care and Development Block Grant program and serve a small fraction of those eligible. In 2015, there were 13.5 million children eligible for child care subsidies—however, only 15 percent of these children received them.

Transportation: For families living in poverty, a lack of access to transportation plays a key role in a child’s future. Transportation directly mediates a family’s ability to connect with resources in their community—from access to housing and healthcare to education and employment. Housing and transportation can total over 50 percent of a household’s yearly income if affordable, high-quality options are unavailable. Additionally, studies found that 20 percent of low-income families don’t own a vehicle; for the additional 80 percent of families, vehicle ownership doesn’t necessarily mean they have an available vehicle to take their children to school.

Economic Impact: When parents aren’t able to afford high-quality child care, it has both short- and long-term economic impacts. Studies show that interrupting a career due to a lack of adequate child care results in an estimated 19 percent of lifetime earnings. In 2018, a survey found that workers with children under the age of 3 lose an average of 2 hours each week of work time due to child care problems; one-quarter of respondents noted that they reduced their regular work hours, turned down educational opportunities or training, and turned down a job offer due to challenges with child care.

Our Impact

One Place is dedicated to helping families in Onslow County thrive through a number of programs:

Providing families with books. One of the most significant factors that influence a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and reading at home—but 60 percent of low-income families in the United States cannot afford books. To help low-income families in our community, One Place is dedicated to providing access to books and resources that support language and literacy development, establishing the next generation of readers through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Story Walks at the Park, Little Free Libraries, and Community Book Drives. Learn more here.
Connecting families with resources and referrals. We offer Child Care Resources and Referrals (CCR&R) to connect parents and caregivers with high-quality, licensed early education centers and family care homes. We also provide information about financial resources, including child care subsidy in Onslow County, to offset the cost of high-quality early childhood education. For more information on child care subsidy, call Consolidated Human Services at (910) 455-4145.

Early Head Start program. A parent is a child’s first and most important teacher. By partnering with Early Head Start during the first three years of a child’s life, parents and caregivers can nurture a child’s development and create stronger family bonds. Learn more here.

Professionalizing the child care industry. For decades, the American child care system has been on the brink of collapse. To combat these challenges, we are dedicated to furthering conversations and resources around professionalizing the industry so educators make a living wage with health benefits. We offer tools and resources for early educators—from professional development to managing challenging behaviors. Learn more here.

Other questions? We’d love to hear from you. Reach out here.