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Buffalo Ranks Sixth for Child Poverty

By Mark Scott

Buffalo, NY – Buffalo ranks as the sixth-worst city in the nation for the number of children living poverty.

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) has examined data from the 2000 census in developing the ranking. The CDF reports 38.7 percent of Buffalo's children live in poverty.

"In truth now, these numbers could actually be worse because of the past year's recession. There could be more children living in poverty," said CDF spokeswoman Kyle Good. "The economy has done as much as it's going to do to help our poor children."

The federal poverty standard is a family of three with a household income of about $15,000. Good said Congress needs to approve legislation that would help working families.

"One of the things that is going to help raise these families out of poverty is to give them the kind of support they're going to need to continue working," Good continued. "One of the most important bills that is up for reauthorization is the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which gives parents money to pay for child care assistance for their children when they go to work."

Good said child poverty is not just an urban problem, but a rural one as well. Ironically, Buffalo County, South Dakota, has the distinction of having the highest child poverty rate in the nation at nearly 62 percent.