Child Poverty and Faith

Jesus said, "let the children come to me." All children are gifts from God. Yet, an astounding one in five children in the United States live in poverty. In fact, the younger you are, the more likely you are to be living in poverty. One in four children under age five live in poverty. The hunger, homelessness and instability poverty imposes on children can crush God's dreams for their potential-filled lives. Child poverty is a scandal and a sin requires a groundswell of faithful voices to call for change.

About Our Work

The National Council of Churches has long worked together to alleviate child poverty by raising awareness of children's needs, be it through advocacy for equitable public education, or intentonally creating time to pray for children by co-sponsoring the National Observance of Children's Sabbaths each October.

Get Involved

There are a number of faith exciting movements happening to address child poverty. Click here to read about them and see how you can plug in. Post what you're doing about child poverty issues on social media and tag us to let us know. Use the #TalkPoverty hashtag on Twitter. You can also email us at info@nccendpoverty.org.

Learn More

Click here to sign up to download the following free Christian education resources on child poverty.

1. "The Younger You Are, the More Likely You Are to Be Poor" - One page handout on Child Poverty

2. Minimum Wage Interactive Activity - Try supporting your children on minimum wage using an Excel budgeting spreadsheet.

3. Policy Briefs from a Christian Perspective on:

• Early Childhood Education
• The Role of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Feeing Hungry Kids.
• School Meal Programs
• The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program
• The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC)