Four-year-old Carlos Lopez’s favorite food is tacos, but he can’t always have them.
At the end of most months, when things like milk and bread run out, tacos are not high on the list priorities for his mother, Karrema Jones. When bills have to be paid, and the money for that month doesn’t cover all of them, it’s things like tacos that get cut.
“Usually Food Stamps cover food until the end of the month, but I have to go out and buy milk, eggs and bread. Sometimes they lower Food Stamps. It depends on how much I get that month,” says Jones, whose family lives in the South Side. “When I can’t pay bills, I have to budget things out. I have to pay bills that need to be paid this month and save other ones for later.”
Her son Carlos is among the 13,453 poor children in Syracuse, according to the New York State Community Action Association, for whom food and other essentials are sometimes hard to come by. If they don’t go hungry, say experts, it’s largely because of serious penny-pinching and outside help.
“It’s very rough for a lot of children in poverty,” says Don Crary, associate director of policy reform and advocacy at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It is a national charitable foundation, located in Maryland that advocates for and sponsors research on underprivileged children.
Parents of children living in poverty are generally don’t have money for basic needs, let alone luxuries, he says. Typically parents of poor children are young and don’t have a high school education, says Crary. “These are people growing up without the education and resources to take care of their children. They are more likely to drop out of high school, more likely to be teen parents and more likely to end up in poverty,” says Crary.
The large majority of children in poverty are being raised by single young mothers, say experts on poverty and children. Many of the children often have trouble learning in school. Many of them are likely to remain poor as adults, creating what experts describe as poverty’s vicious cycle from one generation to the next.
Poverty is defined as a yearly income of $22,350 for a family of four, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Consider these statistics on children in poverty in the Syracuse area:
- 61 percent of Syracuse children in poverty are being raised by single mothers according to a 2010 study by the New York State Community Action Association.
- 37 percent of the people in Central New York who receive emergency food services are children under the age of 18, according to the Food Bank of Central New York. Of those, 13 percent are children younger than 5.
- For 77 percent of families in Central New York, their Food Stamps don’t last until the end of the month, according to a 2011 study by the Food Bank of Central New York. They last 2.7 weeks on average.
Poverty affects children’s learning ability, their health and their social and emotional well-being, says Mary De Masi, the director of policy, planning & research for the New York State Council on Children and Families. It is an advocacy and research group. Its “Kids Count” reports are considered to be among the most reliable and thorough by child-welfare experts.
“The experience of poverty in childhood can have an impact that extends into adulthood,” said De Masi.
The lack of food or nutritious food in households is directly related to lower IQs in poor children, according to a study by the New York State Council on Children and Families. One-third of children at 50 percent of the poverty threshold, or $11,175 for a family of four, are far less likely to complete high school as those in higher income groups. That is when the cycle of poverty continues. Their college-bound peers will earn more during their lifetimes because of their education.
Hunger is directly related to cognitive development, according to Amalia Swan, director of the Food Stamp Outreach program for the Food Bank of Central New York. For children, she said, “It’s harder for them to learn and retain information when they’re hungry.”
For 4-year-old Carlos, who loves tacos, poverty is a fourth-generation family reality. Carlos’ mom, Karrema Jones, was 17 when Carlos was born. She has a second child, Imagene who is still in diapers. The family is on public assistance, with government help with food and healthcare.
Carlos isn’t old enough for school. In the Head Start pre-school program, he learned to write his name. His mother works at Sutherland Global, so his father and aunt usually take care of him. He spends his days playing with cousins and with video games.
“I’m scheduled to work 80 hours every two weeks,” says Jones. “I get to see the kids when I get off of work.”
She makes $10.75 hourly working at Sutherland as an insurance specialist. This comes out to $22,360 annually, before taxes. She qualifies for Medicaid, the tax-supported health insurance program for the poor, and for Food Stamps.
Towards the end of the month, the family usually runs out of the food basics. Then she pays for things like milk, bread, cheese and eggs with her own money. She makes ends meet, she said, “because I have help.”
(Celeste Little is a graduate student in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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