Research

Conditions for Children in Alabama

At the end of the 20th century, Alabama ranked 47th in care for children. The National Kids Count report revealed that only three states were worse than Alabama in the conditions for children, although 14 states were poorer than Alabama (lower median income for a four-person family).
(Birmingham News, May 19, 1999)

In 1990 Alabama had the 2nd highest rate of child poverty in America (ahead only of Mississippi), with 350,000 children living in poverty. According to the Food Research and Action Center, 17% of Alabama’s children under age 12 suffered from hunger or nutrition-caused malnutrition at some time during that year.
(Birmingham Post-Herald, Sept. 2, 1991)

If a family of three made more than $65 a week, it was ineligible for Medicaid, the lowest cutoff in the nation. 78,000 Alabama parents work but make less than 200% of the federal poverty level, and have no health insurance where they work and cannot qualify for Medicaid in Alabama.
(Birmingham News, May 19, 1999)

Between 1989 and 1993 the percentage of Alabama children living in poverty actually increased from 24% to 26.2%. In May 1998, 300,000 Alabama children lived below the federal poverty line. Six Alabama counties ranked among the nation’s l00 worst counties for child poverty (Perry, Wilcox, Greene, Dallas, Lowndes, Macon).
(Birmingham Post-Herald, May 5, 1998)

In 2001, 932,000 black children lived in extreme poverty in America, a 50% increase from 1999 (extreme poverty is defined as a family with after-tax income that is less than half the federal definition of poverty).
(Children’s Defense Fund, reported in Birmingham News, May 1, 2003)

Poverty rate for Alabama children in 1993: 26.2%. In 1995, it had increased to 26.4%. In 1995, it increased to 26.4%.
(Birmingham Post-Herald, Feb. l2, 1999)

In 1993 more Alabama children lived in poverty than attended college in the state (288,000 to 193,000).
(Birmingham News, Jan. 16, 1998)

Alabama’s child poverty rate increased by 31% in the decade of the 1980’s. The U.S. rate increased by 26%. The percentage of Alabama children living in poverty increased from 23.6% in 1979 to 30.9% in 1989.
(Center for Study of Social Policy, Jan. 1991)