Study: 45% increase in Louisiana children with unemployed parents since 2007

The number of children in Louisiana who are living with unemployed parents has grown by more than 45% compared to pre-recession levels, The Times-Picayune reports, citing a recent Urban Institute study. In 2007 there were 48,600 children in Louisiana living with unemployed parents, according to the study; in 2012 that number has reached 70,600. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Louisiana had an unemployment rate of 6.6% in October—1.3% lower than the national rate. Nationally, children living with unemployed parents grew from 3.5 million to 6.3 million—an 80% increase—between 2007 and 2012. First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., partnered with the Urban Institute to assemble the study on poverty that spotlights the statistics on unemployed parents. Professor Pamela Monroe of the LSU School of Social Work says child poverty is linked to the household. “Children are not poor. The households they live in are poor,” she says. “We are quick to romanticize about child poverty, but the best way to help [poor children] is by helping the adults be better. One of the ways is to have a better economy and more job opportunities.” Read the full story here; or check out the complete study here.