US Census Data Shows Significant Jump in Colorado’s Childhood Poverty Rate Due to Recession

On Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2009 American Community Survey (ACS) data. This is the largest survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and a critical source of information on childhood poverty trends each year.  This year’s data showed that childhood poverty in Colorado rose from 15.1 percent in 2008 to 17.4 percent in 2009, reflecting the impact of the economic recession.  In actual numbers, this means that 210,000 children in Colorado were living at or below the poverty line (about $22,000 for a family of 4) in 2009, up from about 179,000 children in 2008.  While Colorado is still below the national average of 20 percent, this is Colorado’s single largest increase in childhood poverty in several years.