Poverty, racial divide among Florida children is soaring, study finds, By Kate Santich, June 11, 2012, Orlando Sentinel: “The number of Florida’s children living in poverty swelled 35 percent from 2006 to 2010 — an increase that especially hurt black and Hispanic youth — a new report shows. Using the most recent statistics available, the report found that nearly one in every four Florida children, or about 924,000 collectively, now lives below the federal poverty line. Two-thirds of black children live in families classified as low-income, meaning they earn less than $44,100 a year for a family of four. “It is not new that disparities exist,” said Linda Alexionok, co-director of Voices for Florida, the nonpartisan group that issued the report, “The Well-Being of Florida’s Children.” “What is new is that disparities are more prevalent today than ever before, and growing. . .”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty