LatinaLista — The latest report from the Pew Hispanic Center declaring that childhood poverty in the Latino community leads the nation isn’t a total surprise.
It’s known that the recession, which triggered the loss of construction jobs, hit Latino workers the hardest. Also, the passage of anti-immigrant legislation and the increase in deportations, which lead to the loss in immigrant families of either the major breadwinner or his/her income, also impacted families that were already vulnerable.
With the Pew Hispanic describing 4.1 million Latino children of immigrant parents as “impoverished,” it’s not hard to see or understand why too many Latino children find themselves going hungry.
Fortunately, the Pew Hispanic report doesn’t just release the dismal facts but also helps paint a profile of those Latino families most likely to be impoverished. According to the report, poverty-stricken Latino children most likely live in homes:
With female-headed families (57%)
Have parents who had a high school education or less (48%)
Had an unemployed parent (43.5%)
Are children of immigrant parents (40.2%)
Obviously, the key to reversing this sad statistic — and to halt a cycle of poverty before it has a chance to root itself into any family dynamics — is giving extra support, both economically through job training and education and emotionally through free community child care and emotional support to female headed families.
Supply convenient and affordable access to education and job training.
And perhaps the most important, if not the most controversial, officially recognize the undocumented by allowing them to legally live in the United States — so that they can openly work, provide for their families and keep their children healthy and hunger-free.
