The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) collects and analyzes data and publishes a range of reports and tools on child poverty, early childhood mental health, and related issues.
About 39% percent of the nation’s young children (under age 6) — nearly 23 million in 2021 — live in families with low incomes. Low-income is defined as having income below twice the federal poverty level. In Connecticut, 31% of kids under 6 lived in low-income households, with 14% living in households below the federal poverty line. Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous children under 6 were nearly four times more likely than White children to live in low-income households.
The vast majority (84%) of low-income children in Connecticut had parents who were employed but still struggling to make ends meet. 19% of Connecticut children under 6 received SNAP in 2021 (federal food assistance, formerly known as “food stamps”). 33% of children in CT lived in families experiencing housing insecurity in 2021, higher than the national rate of 31%.
Click on the link below to explore more data on child poverty from NCCP: