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Instituto del Desarrollo de la Juventud (Youth Development Institute)

Related children in female headed families below poverty in Puerto Rico

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Why This Indicator Matters

Parents struggling with financial hardship have fewer resources to invest in their children and are more prone to stress and depression, which can interfere with effective parenting. Children growing up in single parent families typically have access to fewer economic resources and valuable time with adults than children in two-parent families who can share the responsibilities. For example, in 2016, 75 percent of single female families had incomes below poverty line, compared with 38 percent of married couples with children. While children growing up in poverty is one of the greatest threats to healthy child development. It increases the likelihood that a child will be exposed to factors that can impair his or her brain development and lead to poor academic, cognitive and health outcomes. It also can result in higher rates of risky health-related behaviors among adolescents. Extended exposure to poverty also contributes to worse teen and adult outcomes. And the risks posed by economic hardship are greatest among children who experience poverty when they are young and among those who experience persistent and deep poverty. The child poverty rate in Puerto Rico has remain constant, around 56% and 57%, for at least 10 years. 

These findings underscore the importance of two-generation strategies, which address the needs of parents and children at the same time so that both can succeed together.
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Definitions: These values reflect the percentage of children under 18 years old in female headed families living below the poverty level as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. 

These federal thresholds definitions considers three parameters: family composition, family income, and the annual inflation. For example, in 2014, the poverty threshold for a family of two adults and two children was $24,008. To determine the family income it is considered: earnings, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, public assistance, veterans' payments, survivor benefits, pension or retirement income, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, income from estates, trusts, educational assistance, alimony, child support, assistance from outside the household, and other miscellaneous sources. 

On the other side, these values does not includes information about unrelated individuals under age 15, institutional group quarters (such as prisons or nursing homes), nursing homes, college dormitories, military barracks and people living situations without conventional housing (and who are not in shelters). Also noncash benefits like food stamps, housing subsides, capital gain or losses, and the income of non- relatives in the household are not considered.  

Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey. 5 years estimates: 2005-2009, 2006-2010, 2007-2011, 2008 -2012, 2009-2013, 2010-2014, 2011-2015, 2012-2016, 2013-2017.