New study: Children in poverty on the rise in Indiana

According to a new study by the Annie E. Casey charitable foundation, the number of impoverished kids in Indiana has increased at more than double the national rate.  

In the last decade, children living in poverty increased from 14 percent to 20 percent in Indiana. That's a 43 percent increase and more than twice the 18 percent increase nationwide.

"Childhood poverty really jumps off the pages,"  said Bill Stanczykiewicz, President and CEO of The Indiana Youth Institute.  

He said there are three big contributors to our state's struggles:


First, thousands and thousands of manufacturing jobs have left the state. Second, Indiana workers have lower rates of education than those in other states, and lastly, the increase in single parent families has left kids vulnerable.

"The single fastest way for a child to be in poverty is to be in a single parent household."  

Tim Streett of the Shepherd Community Center said it's a mistake to assume these parents aren't working, though.  

"If you're making $7 an hour, even at 60 hours a week, and you have two kids, you're barely above the poverty line and if you're working 40 hours, you're not."  

Christie Smith is one of those parents who’s struggling.  

"I'm paying $400 and some dollars for my kids to go to school, being in poverty and that's cutting out of me feeding my kids.  Honestly, it is."   

Outside Gleaners Food Bank, Smith waits in lines that form hours before the facility opens, these days. The organization’s Program Director said the need is growing with the lines.  

"A large number of families that have young children that are finding their way to food pantries for the first time in their lives," said Rebecca Hersey.  "They never thought they'd be in this position."  

Smith said the longer lines are a message.

"It says that Indiana needs to do a bigger step in making sure these kids are taken care of."

Experts say ignoring the problem will guarantee a country that can't move forward effectively and a generation unable to climb out of poverty. It'll be a generation that’s unable to plan for the future, because the immediate needs become all consuming and overwhelming.  

"If all of today's needs are met, I can think about the future," said Street. "If today's needs aren't met, I'm stuck thinking about today."  

That's something he said we all need to think about and discuss.  

"We don't have a conversation about what is the common good anymore. We only have conversation about what's good for me."