Nearly 30 Percent of Lufkin’s Children Live in Poverty

According to new statistics from the Census Bureau, 28.9% of Children living in Lufkin, live at or under poverty levels.

The Lufkin Daily News reported that there is a significant increase in the number of school-aged children living in poverty. The stats show that even though there has been a decrease of 1.1% since 2008, there was still a greater increase since 2009 of 3.3%.

According to the current Federal Poverty Levels, a family of four is considered living in poverty when their annual income is less than $22,350. As most of you know, children living in poverty have many disadvantages, some that you might not even be aware of.

Here's a short list of just a handful of those disadvantages, according to Princeton's publication 'The Effects of Poverty on Children', written by Jean Brooks-Gunn and Greg J. Duncan:

• Low Birth Weight
• Getting Sick More Often
• More Likely to Get Lead Poising
• Higher Infant Mortality Rates
• More Likely to Have Cognitive Problems
• More Susceptible to Learning Delays or Disabilities
• More Likely to Repeat Grades
• More Likely to Never Graduate High School
• Often Become Teenage Parents
• Much More Likely to Experience Hunger
• Have Lower Self Esteem
• Experience Domestic Violence at Home

That was just icing on the cake, the problems these kids face often follow them into adulthood and even into the next generation were their children are more likely to also live in poverty.