Two reports recently released by the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) provide new information regarding the state of child poverty in the United States from 2012 to 2013. Both reports found a statistically significant decline in poverty between 2012 and 2013.

Despite this, poverty rates for children in Massachusetts continue to climb. Data from the US Census Bureau reveals that children in Massachusetts have higher rates of poverty than both the state’s general population as well as children nationally. Furthermore ACS research from 2011- 2013 shows that Massachusetts families with children under the age of 5 are more at risk of experiencing poverty,  a developmental period  crucial for children’s growth and brain development and influential on lifelong health.

So, why are children in Massachusetts experiencing poverty at a higher rate than children nationally?