© 2026 NPR Illinois
For your right to be curious.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
High school seniors, submit your This I Believe essay here.

The Hidden Force Behind Child Poverty Rates In The U.S.

In this 2015 photo, two children rest on a hammock at a homeless encampment in the Kakaako district of Honolulu. Homelessness in Hawaii has grown in recent years, leaving the state with 487 homeless per 100,000 people, the nation's highest rate per capita, according to federal statistics. (Jae C. Hong/AP)
In this 2015 photo, two children rest on a hammock at a homeless encampment in the Kakaako district of Honolulu. Homelessness in Hawaii has grown in recent years, leaving the state with 487 homeless per 100,000 people, the nation's highest rate per capita, according to federal statistics. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

Child poverty is a huge issue in the U.S., with 17% of kids living in poverty.

Here & Now‘s Tonya Mosley speaks with Nisha Patel (@heynisha), managing director of Narrative Change & National Initiatives at Robin Hood. Patel leads the U.S. Partnership on Mobility from Poverty, a two-year research project that identifies solutions to boost upward mobility.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.