Missouri Children and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Level Guideline 1990-2000
The number of Missouri children and youth living in households with an income below the federal poverty line declined from 230,058 in 1990 to 212,369 in 2000 - a 7.7 percent decrease. Table 1 also shows that the percent of Missouri children below the poverty line declined from 17.7 percent in 1990 to 15.3 percent. Despite the decline in poverty rate among children and youth that age group remains the poorest of Missouri population age cohorts in 2000. In contrast to the 15.3 percent of children living below the poverty line in 2000, only 10.7 percent of Missouri adults age 18-64 and 9.9 percent of Missouri seniors age 65 and over was living in households with an income below the poverty line.
Variation Among Counties in the Rate of Change of Child Poverty During the 1990s.
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Although the proportion of children and youth living below the poverty line declined statewide, there was significant variation among counties in the amount and rate of change in child poverty during the 1990s. Table 2 and Map 1 show that there were 22 counties in which the number of children below the poverty line declined by more than 30 percent during the 1990s, and an additional 42 counties in which the child poverty rate declined by between 10.0 percent and 29.9 percent. Overall, the number of children below the poverty line declined in 85 of Missouri's 114 counties and St. Louis City.
However, in contrast to change in poverty rates among older Missourians, the number of children below the poverty level increased in 29 counties while the number of Missourians age 65 and over increased in only four counties during the 1990s. Among the 29 counties in which the number of children below the poverty line increased, the increase was greater than 20 percent in 16 counties and, in six of those counties the number increased by more than 40 percent.
The increases in child poverty rate in 25 percent of Missouri counties is significant considering the large increases in income and employment which occurred throughout much of the state during the 1990s. Most of the counties with increases in number of children below the poverty level were counties that had significant increases in population and employment during the 1990s. Map 1 shows that most of the counties having increases in number of children below poverty level were in the southwest quarter of the state extending from Cole County through the Lake of the Ozarks area, Springfield and on to Taney and Stone Counties in the Branson area. This factor will be examined in greater detail in discussion of those counties in which adult population (age 18 -64) below the poverty level increased. Obviously there is a direct relation between child poverty and the income of parents.
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Variations in Child Poverty Rate
Although 15.3 percent of Missouri children were living in households having an income below the poverty line in 2000 the percentage of poor children ranged from a low of 4.9 percent in St. Charles County to a high of 43.2 percent in Pemiscot. Map 2 shows the percent of children below the poverty level among Missouri counties. The 23 counties in which the percent of children below the poverty line are located are largely in the southeast Ozarks and Bootheel. The 21 counties in which between 20 and 25 percent of children are below the poverty line are about equally divided between rural north and south Missouri.
The 12 counties in which fewer than 10 percent of children are below the poverty line are primarily St. Louis and Kansas City suburban counties. Three exceptions are Ralls County adjacent to Hannibal, Perry County adjacent to Cape Girardeau and Osage County adjacent to Jefferson City.
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OSEDA Regional Grouping of Counties Many demographic factors vary by region within the state of Missouri. For the convenience of our user community, OSEDA prepares tables using three different regional groupings of counties: Extension, Economic Development and Transportation. For each of these groupings, one table summarizes the indicators by regional total and a second table shows values for each county grouped by region. Users may select the county grouping most helpful for their application and understanding. |
Changes in Children and Youth Poverty 1990-2000 for Missouri Regions
University of Missouri Extension Regions
There was wide variation among the eight extension regions in change in the number of children and youth living below the poverty line between 1990 and 2000. Although in two of the eight regions there were actually more children below the poverty line in 2000 than in 1990 the proportion of children below the poverty line declined in all eight regions.
Change in Poverty Rates
The greatest decline in proportion of children below the poverty line during the 1990s occurred in those regions that had the highest poverty rates in 1990. In order of the proportion of region children below the poverty line in 1990 those regions and the change in poverty rate during the 1990s were: (1) Southeast which declined from a child poverty rate of 29.6 in 1990 to 24.1; (2) South Central which declined from 24.2 percent in 1990 to 20.8 percent in 2000; (3) Northeast which declined from 22.3 to 17.9; and (4) the greatest decline in rate occurred in Northwest which declined from 21.2 percent in 1990 to 14.6 percent in 2000 - a change in poverty rate of more than 30 percent.
The four regions having the lowest poverty rate in 2000 were West Central (Kansas City) with 13.2 percent, East Central (St. Louis) with 13.3 percent, Central with 14.4 percent and Northwest with 14.6 percent. However, in the East Central and West Central regions the regional rate is misleading because the poverty rates are very low among some of the suburban counties and high in, especially, the inner city counties.
Change in Number of Children Below the Poverty Line.
In six of the eight extension regions the number of children below the poverty line declined between 1990 and 2000. In three of the regions the decline was very significant - a decline of 32.7 percent in the Northwest Region; 21.4 percent in the Northeast Region; and, 21.0 percent in the Southeast. The amount of decline was modest in the two metropolitan regions - a decline of 5.0 percent in the West Central region and 10.6 percent in East Central.
In two of the regions the number of children below the poverty line actually increased between 1990 and 2000. However, the major reason for the increase in poor children in the Southwest and Central Regions is that both had significant increases in total population. In both regions there were many more children in 2000-accounting for the increase in number of poor children. However, in those two regions there was also very significant employment increases during the 1990s. Consequently, both regions attracted significant numbers of families moving to the region for employment. There was, throughout most of the 1990s, an abundance of lower skill, lower wage employment. Thus, many of the migrants moving to those two regions accepted relatively low wage employment contributing to a growth in poverty status children.
Missouri Department of Transportation Districts
Although MODOT Districts vary significantly in the proportion of children and youth living below the poverty line in 2000, the percent of children living in households with an income below the poverty line declined in all 10 MODOT Districts.
Change in Poverty Rates Among Children 1990-2000
The lowest percentage of children below the poverty line in 2000 was found in the Kansas City District (12.9 percent), followed by the St. Louis District with 13.2 percent and the Jefferson City and St. Joseph Districts with 14.0 percent each. Not only did the St. Joseph District tie with the Jefferson City District for the third lowest child poverty rate among the 10 districts, but it also had by far the greatest decline in child poverty rate during the 1990s. In the St. Joseph District 21.2 percent of children were below the poverty line in 1990: that rate declined to 14.0 percent in 2000.
The largest 2000 child poverty rates among the districts were in the Willow Springs District with 23.3 percent, followed by the Sikeston District with 22.5 percent. The third highest rate was in the Joplin District with 19.7 percent. While the percent of children below the poverty level declined significantly in the Willow Springs and Sikeston Districts during the 1990s, there was relatively little change in the rate in the Joplin District. Actually, the number of children below the poverty level in the Joplin District actually increased by more than 10 percent during the 1990s.
Change in Number of Children Below the Poverty Line 1990-2000
Although statewide the number of children living in households with an income below the poverty level declined by nearly 18,000 during the 1990s there were three of the MODOT ten districts in which the number of children below the poverty line actually increased. The districts that increased included Joplin with an increase of 10.7 percent (1,590 more low income children by 2000), Springfield with an increase of 7.8 percent (1,483 more low income children) and Jefferson City with an increase of 4.8 percent (679 more children). To an important degree the increases in poverty level children in those three regions was because those regions had significant population increases during the 1990s. In each of those regions there were significantly more children in 2000 than in 1990 and, as indicated, about 15 to 20 percent of that greater number of children were living in low-income families.
It is significant in the Springfield, Joplin and Jefferson City Districts that employment growth exceeded growth rates throughout other regions. Each of these districts attracted workers from other parts of the state and nation. However, in each of those regions employment growth included a significant number of low wage, low skill jobs.
The greatest decline in actual number of low-income children occurred in the Sikeston District (a decline of 5,138 during the 1990s), the Kansas City District with a decline of 4,406 and the St. Joseph District with a decline of 3,626. The decline in number of low-income children in those three districts accounted for 75 percent of the state's total decline in low income children during the 1990s.
Missouri Department of Economic Development Regions
The number of children living in households having an income below the poverty line declined during the 1990s in 11 of the 13 DED regions. In all 13 DED regions the child poverty rate (percent of all children below the poverty line) declined during the 1990s. There were, however, significant differences between regions in the rate of change of child poverty. In three regions, Northwest, Northeast and the Bootheel, the number of children below the poverty line declined by more than 20 percent during the 1990s. However there were two of the regions, Southwest and Springfield-Branson, in which the number of children below the poverty line increased during the 1990s.
Change in Child Poverty Rate 1990-2000
According to the 2000 Population Census there were four DED Regions in which the percent of children below the poverty line fell below the state average (15.3 percent). The region with the lowest child poverty rate was the Kansas City MSA with rate of 12.7 percent. Following Kansas City MSA the St. Louis MSA and Central each had a child poverty rate of 13.0 percent. The only other region below the state average was Northwest with 14.3 percent. The Northwest also had the most significant decline in child poverty rate among the regions during the 1990s - declining from 21.8 percent in 1990 to 14.3 in 2000.
The two regions with the greatest child poverty rates in 2000 were South Central with 27.6 percent and the Bootheel with 29.1 percent. Although Bootheel had the highest child poverty rate in 2000 it also had the greatest decline in number of low-income children. In 1990 the child poverty rate in the Bootheel was 34.7 percent. However, by 2000 there were 4,495 fewer low-income children in the Bootheel than in 1990 - a decline of 21.1 percent.
Aside from the four regions with child poverty rates below the state average and the two regions, the Bootheel and South Central, with rates well above the state average, the remaining seven regions have very similar child poverty rates. The remaining seven regions all fall within a range from 19.6 percent to 15.8 percent.
Change in Number of Children Below the Poverty Line 1990-2000
The number of children living in households with an income below the poverty line declined in 11 of the 13 DED regions. The greatest decline in absolute numbers of low-income children occurred in the Bootheel (-4,495), Kansas City MSA (-4,452), and Northwest (-3473). Those three regions together accounted for 70 percent of Missouri's total decline in children below the poverty line during the 1990s. Other regions having impressive rates of decline in number of low-income children included the Northeast Region with a decline of 24.5 percent and the Lower East Central - Cape Region with a decline of 17.9 percent.
A part of the decline in number of low-income children was offset by increases in the Southwest and the Springfield-Branson Regions. The number of low income children in Southwest increased by 1,740 (13.0 percent) during the 1990s, and the number in the Springfield-Branson Region increased by 1,602 (11.2 percent). At least part of the reason for increases in the number of children below the poverty line was the significant increase in total population that occurred in those regions during the 1990s. As total population increased so too did the number of lower income families - a contributing factor to increases in low-income children. A part of the dramatic employment growth that occurred in both regions during the 1990s was in sectors generally offering low wage, low skill work. Evidence is quite clear that throughout these two regions many of the lower income families are what have been labeled the "working poor". Unemployment in both regions was low throughout the 1990s.
Additional tables are attached which report Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000 for three different sets of regions: eight University of Missouri Extension regions; 10 Missouri Department of Transportation regions; and 13 Missouri Department of Economic Development regions.
| Detailed Tables about Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000 | ||
| The following links provide detailed tables of Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000. They are in both HTML and Adobe Acrobat (PDF) formats. | ||
| All Missouri Counties | ||
| Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals | HTML | |
| Regional Tables | ||
| UO/E Regions | ||
| Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By UM Extension Region | HTML | |
| Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By County Within UM Extension Region | HTML | |
| DED Regions | ||
| Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By DED Region | HTML | |
| Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By County Within DED Region | HTML | |
| MoDOT Regions | ||
| Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By DOT District | HTML | |
| Missouri Childen and Youth (Under Age 18) Living in Households with Income Below Federal Poverty Guideline 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals - By County Within DOT District | HTML | |
This file last modified Thursday May 07, 2009, 16:03:46
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