Child Poverty Rate Moving Down in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- A national study released today by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health indicates Oklahoma reduced its child poverty rate from 26 percent to 19.3 percent during the five-year period between 1993 and 1998.
These are very encouraging numbers according to Oklahoma Department of Human Services Director Howard H. Hendrick. "A considerable amount of work has been done and partnerships developed during the last decade to turn around numbers that were continually spiraling up since the oil bust of the 1980s. This study released today documents the success of the efforts that were put into reducing a proportion of children in poverty. That’s something Oklahomans can be excited about. But we realize there is much work remaining to be done."

In addition to showing the decrease in Oklahoma’s child poverty rate, the study showed families receiving cash public assistance decreased by 58 percent during the same five-year period (1993-98). In June 2000, there were 13,591 Oklahoma families receiving cash public assistance, compared to 48,622 families in October 1992 when the state was at its public assistance zenith.

The new study was conducted by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at the Mailman School of Public Health. The study also indicates that during the last 20 years the states with the highest child poverty levels are no longer concentrated in the southern and southwestern United States.

The study looked at two key business and legislative cycles, comparing 1979-1993 and 1993-1998, based on the national business cycle and major changes in state and federal laws affecting low-income families. The whole report is available at: http://www.nccp.org

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