Latinos Now Majority Of Children In Poverty

For the first time since these statistics have been gathered, there are more Hispanic children in America living in poverty than white children: 6.1 million Latinos compared to 5 million whites. The figures, from a Pew Hispanic Center report released Sept. 28, also show 4.4 million black children living in poverty.

In the D.C. area, about 130,000 young people live in poverty, with blacks accounting for half of those numbers and Hispanics about a quarter, but moving up quickly. The jurisdiction with the highest rate of poverty among Hispanics is Arlington County, where nearly 40 percent of poor kids are Hispanic.

In Fairfax, Prince William and Loudon counties in Virginia; and Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland, about a third of those children living in poverty are Hispanic.

The study says the recession has hit Hispanics very hard. Hispanic homes have a greater rate of unemployment and decline in wealth than other ethnic groups ,even as the Hispanic birth rate continues to outpace whites, blacks and Asians.