Seventeen percent, or 13 million, of the nation’s children are living in poverty, a figure that has increased by 11 percent since 2000, says a report by the New York City-based National Center for Children in Poverty, a nonprofit organization that promotes economic security and well-being for families and children.
The percentage of children living in poverty ranges from 6 percent in New Hampshire to 29 percent in Mississippi, according to the study, which gathered data from academic journals and the U.S. Census Bureau between 2000 and 2006. The study also found that 11 percent of all children in the United States lack health insurance, a proportion that has increased by 1 percentage point since 2004.
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