Hispanic Children in Poverty Exceed Whites, Study Finds - NYTimes.com

Hispanic Children in Poverty Exceed Whites, Study Finds - NYTimes.com: Hispanic children living in poverty in the United States outnumber poor white children for the first time, a demographic shift that was hastened by the recession, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center.

The number of Hispanic children in poverty jumped by 36 percent from 2007 to 2010, to a total of 6.1 million, compared with 5 million non-Hispanic white children who are poor, said the report, which analyzed recent data from the Census Bureau.

The recession drove the rise, the report found. But demographics also contributed. The Hispanic population has grown by more than 40 percent over the past decade.

Hispanics make up 16 percent of the overall American population, but they are a quarter of the country’s children.