Research suggests that, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty threshold to meet their most basic needs. Children living in families with incomes below this level—$51,852 for a family of four with two children in 2019—are referred to as low income. The United States measures poverty by an outdated standard developed in the 1960s.
In Arkansas, there are 0 families with 0 young children
Low-Income Children: % (0) of young children live in low-income families (National: 40%).
Parental Employment
- % (0) of young children in low-income families have at least one parent who is employed full-time, year-round compared to % (0) of young children in above low-income families.
- % (0) of young children in low-income families have at least one parent who is employed either part-year or part-time compared to % (0) of young children in above low-income families.
- % (0) of young children in low-income families do not have an employed parent compared to % (0) of young children in above low-income families.
Parental Education
- % (0) of young children whose parents do not have a high school degree live in low-income families.
- % (0) of young children whose parents have a high school degree, but no college education live in low-income families.
- % (0) of young children whose parents have some college or more live in low-income families.
Parental Marital Status
- % (0) of young children in low-income families live with a single parent.
- % (0) of young children in above low-income families live with a single parent.
Child’s Race/Ethnicity
- % (0) of young white children live in low-income families.
- % (0) of young black children live in low-income families.
- % (0) of young Hispanic children live in low-income families.
- % (0) of young Asian children live in low-income families.
- % (0) of young American Indian children live in low-income families.
Child’s Age
- % (0) of young children, under age 3, live in low-income families.
- % (0) of young children, ages 3 through 5, live in low-income families.
Residential Move
- % (0) of young children in low-income families moved in the last year.
- % (0) of young children in above low-income families moved in the last year.
Parental Nativity
- % (0) of young children of immigrant parents live in low-income families.
- % (0) of young children of native-born parents live in low-income families.
Home Ownership
- % (0) of young children in low-income families live in owner-occupied housing.
- % (0) of young children in above low-income families live in owner-occupied housing.
Parental Presence
- % (0) of low-income young children live in families with no parent present.
- % (0) of above low-income young children live in families with no parent present.
Data Notes and Sources
Because of rounding, not all figures will add up to 100%.
National data were calculated from the 2019 American Community Survey, representing information from 2019. State data were calculated from the 2015-2019 American Community Survey, representing information from the years 2015 to 2019.
Definitions
The demographic findings on this page were calculated using federal poverty thresholds issued by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more information about federal poverty thresholds, see the US Census website.
- Child
- A child is defined as an individual under the age of 18. Children living independently, living with a spouse, living in group quarters, and children ages 14 and under living with only unrelated adults are excluded from these data.
- Low Income
- Families and children are defined as low-income if the family income is less than twice the federal poverty threshold (see Poor).
- Parent
- A parent is defined as an individual over the age of 17 who lives with a dependent child. Among children who do not live with at least one parent, parental characteristics are those of the householder and/or the householder's spouse.
- Poor
- Families and children are defined as poor if family income is below the federal poverty threshold. The federal poverty threshold for a family of four with two children was $25,926 in 2019, $25,465 in 2018, $24,600 in 2017, $24,300 in 2016, and $24,250 in 2015.
For definitions of other terms, please refer to Explanations of Terms and Data Sources.