About

The Need

As of 2009, 14.3% of all persons in the United States live in poverty.

This is almost 40 million Americans who struggle to have their daily needs met. More incredibly, children represent a disproportionate share of the poor in the United States making up 25% of the total population, and 35% of the poor population. In 2008, 15.45 million children, or 20.7%, were poor.

Children raised in poverty:

• Have lower academic achievement outcomes than other children

• 36% attend college compared to 88% of affluent students

• Are more likely to become a teen parent, smoke and use illegal drugs, and face unemployment

In today’s economy, graduating from high school and obtaining a post-secondary degree or credential can mean the difference between a lifetime of poverty and a secure economic future. However, in the United States, high school graduation and college readiness rates are alarmingly low.

• 69% of students (only about 50% of African American, Hispanic and low-income students) graduate from high school on time.
• Of those students who enroll in college, only about half earn a diploma within six years. For low-income students, the college completion rate drops to 25%.

Sources: National Poverty Center http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/; the Corporation for National and Community Service http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/serveamerica/index.asp; University of North Carolina’s Center on Poverty http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap42.pdf; Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity http://www.spotlightonpoverty.org/; and Volunteering in the United States: Where We Stand http://lmi.ides.state.il.us/lmr/winter_2002/volunteering.htm.