kidsdata advisory

Video and Website Detail Impact of Poverty on Young Kids in Southern CA

With childhood poverty on the rise in Southern California and across the state, the First 5 Association of California, in conjunction with our foundation, First 5s in Southern California, and HealthyCity.org, has just launched a website and a short video to remind the public and policymakers about the long-lasting and wide-ranging impact that poverty can have on young children. 

Approximately 425,000 more California children were living in poverty in 2010 than in 2007. In some Southern California counties, such as Los Angeles and San Bernardino, nearly 25% of children live in poverty, according to 2010 data.

How Poverty Can Affect a Young Child's Well Being

Children's lives can be shaped in multiple ways by their families' economic standing:

• Children in poverty are more likely to experience child neglect.
  
• Children in poverty are less likely to obtain dental care.
  
• Poverty can have a long-term, negative impact on the educational achievement of children.
  
• Research links poverty with a greater likelihood of asthma in children.
  
• Low-income women are less likely to receive first trimester prenatal care.
  
• Poverty can exacerbate factors associated with childhood obesity.

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This website, offered as a public service, can inform your own work and educate your colleagues. Please forward this note to others.

In addition to charting data and providing perspective on key issues linked to childhood poverty, this new website highlights how First 5s across Southern California are responding to the growing challenge of childhood poverty. The website also maps level of need for the Southern California region, providing data maps for eight Southern California counties.

About This Project

This project is an effort to leverage the local-level expertise of Southern California’s First 5s and the First 5 Association with the data know-how of two statewide programs: the Advancement Project’s HealthyCity and kidsdata.org, a program of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. More >> 

First 5 County Partners: First 5 Imperial, First 5 LA, Children and Families Commission of Orange County, First 5 Riverside, First 5 San Bernardino, First 5 San Diego, First 5 Santa Barbara, First 5 Ventura

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Watch this video describing the long-lasting and wide-ranging impact that poverty can have on young children.