Child Poverty

Children
Written By Alysha Rashid

19% of Southern children live in poverty, compared to 16% of children outside the South. 10 Southern states have passed laws preempting localities from passing increased minimum wage ordinances.

Child poverty rates, 2021

Percent of children under 18 years old living below the poverty level

The Congressional Budget Office found that 500,000 children could be lifted out of poverty if the U.S. minimum wage were lifted to $15.1 Yet at $7.25/hr the federal minimum wage remains less than half of that target. Thirty states have set a minimum wage above $7.25 but only three non-Southern states plus D.C. have a minimum wage as high as $15 (effective Jan 1, 2023). Those states that have increased their minimum wage have an average minimum wage of only $12.45/hr. In addition, 26 states have passed laws that prohibit localities from passing minimum wage ordinances higher than the state minimum wage – effectively barring localities from setting a minimum wage as high as $15/hr.2,3

28% of Mississippi children and 27% of Louisiana children live below the poverty level — the highest rates of child poverty in the nation. Mississippi and Louisiana are among the 20 states that do not have a statewide minimum wage that is higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. Mississippi and Louisiana are also two of the 26 states that preempt local governments from establishing higher minimum wages locally that would help alleviate poverty within their communities.4

  1. “The Effects on Employment and Family Income of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage”. Congressional Budget Office. July, 2019. https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2019-07/CBO-55410-MinimumWage2019.pdf

  2. “Workers’ rights preemption in the U.S.”. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/preemption-map/

  3. “Minimum Wage Tracker”. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-tracker/#/min_wage/

  4. “Preempting progress”. Blair, Cooper, Wolfe, and Worker. Economic Policy Institute. September, 2020. https://www.epi.org/publication/preemption-in-the-south/

Alysha Rashid
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