Has the percentage of adolescents living in low-income and poor families changed over time?
The percentage of adolescent children living in low-income families (both poor and near poor) has been on the rise – increasing from 33 percent in 2000 to 36 percent in 2008. During this time period, the overall number of adolescent children ages 12 through 17 increased by four percent while the number who were low-income and poor increased by 16 percent and 21 percent, respectively. This upward trend in low-income and poor children follows on the heels of a decade of decline in the 1990s.
