Analysis of data from the SIPP survey — the most wide-ranging source of government data on family hardships, income and resources, and living conditions— shows the following. These hardship data were collected in 2003 and are the most recent available from the SIPP survey. . .
- Between one-fourth and one-third of black African American families with children (28 percent) experienced at least one of three hardships — overcrowded housing, hunger or the risk of hunger (termed “food insecurity” by the government), or lack of needed medical care — in the 12 months before the survey was conducted in summer 2003. . . This was double the comparable rate for non-Latino white families with children (14 percent).
- Nearly one in three families with children headed by a Latino citizen (31 percent) experienced at least one of these three hardships, not significantly different from the rate for black families. . .
- Hardship rates are still higher among Latino families headed by a non-citizen. Nearly half (47 percent) of families with children headed by a Latino non-citizen experienced one or more of these three hardships.