Families in Poverty
Why is this important?
These data are highly associated with educational attainment.
What are the policy implications?
States and counties with high levels of poverty among children and families also exhibit low levels of educational attainment. The percentages of children and families in poverty are highly correlated with the percent of the adult population with at least a high school diploma - 2000 US data by county generate correlation coefficients of -0.70 and -0.72, respectively. It's useful to compare maps of poverty levels by county to maps of educational attainment by county to see the similar patterns exhibited by each.
Other factors to consider:
Visit the Kids Count website linked below for more detailed poverty information.
Data sources and related links:
http://www.censu s.gov
http://www .aecf.org/kidscount/
