Invisible Dasani: New York Times Series on Homeless Girl Sparks National Conversation on Homelessness, Poverty

A searing New York Times examination of one homeless girl’s life in New York City is calling national attention to poverty and homelessness and their long-term impact on children. As author Andrea Elliott writes:

One in five American children is now living in poverty, giving the United States the highest child poverty rate of any developed nation except for Romania.

This bodes poorly for the future. Decades of research have shown the staggering societal costs of children in poverty. They grow up with less education and lower earning power. They are more likely to have drug addiction, psychological trauma and disease, or wind up in prison.

The five-part series delves into the conditions faced by 11-year-old Dasani, her seven brothers and sisters and her troubled parents, all living in a single room in a decaying family shelter in Brooklyn. Dasani and her siblings are among more than 22,000 homeless children living in New York City.

In California, more than 220,000 public school students were homeless in 2011. About 23 percent of California’s children live below the federal poverty level, echoing national trends. However, families can earn well above the poverty level and still struggle to make ends meet. In 2012, about 58% of California’s public school students qualified for free or reduced price school meals, a program for low-income children.

More information on child poverty and homelessness can be found at kidsdata.org:

Homeless Public School Students (California Only)
Student Eligibility to Receive Free or Reduced Price School Meals

Children in Poverty (Regions of 65,000+ Residents)
Children in Poverty (3-Year Estimates for Regions of 20,000+ Residents)
by Race/Ethnicity
Children in Poverty (5-Year Estimates for Regions of 10,000+ Residents)

Children in Poverty – Supplemental Poverty Measure (State & U.S. Only)
by Race/Ethnicity

Children Living Above and Below the Poverty Level (Regions of 65,000+ Residents)
Children Living Above and Below the Poverty Level (3-Year Estimates for Regions of 20,000+ Residents)
by Family Type
Children Living Above and Below the Poverty Level (5-Year Estimates for Regions of 10,000+ Residents)

Median Family Income (Regions of 65,000+ Residents)
Median Family Income (3-Year Estimates for Regions of 20,000+ Residents)
Median Family Income (5-Year Estimates for Regions of 10,000+ Residents)

Income Needed for Self-Sufficiency Standard, by Household Type
Families Living Below the Self-Sufficiency Standard

Posted by Barbara Feder Ostrov

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