Doing Poorly: The Real Income of American Children in a Comparative Perspective. Luxembourg Income Study. Working Paper No. 127.

This paper investigates the real living standards and poverty status of U.S. children in the 1990s compared to the children in 17 other nations, including Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, and Australia. The analysis is based on the Luxembourg Income Study database. It was found that American children have lower real spendable income than do comparable children in almost every other nation studied. In contrast, high income U.S. children are far better off than their counterparts in other nations. Persistently high child poverty rates were also found in the United States when compared with other nations. Demographic factors and the effectiveness of tax and transfer policies in reducing child poverty are also explored, and the paper concludes with a discussion of results and their policy implications. An appendix presents two tables of countries studied and poverty figures. (Contains 3 text tables, 8 figures, and 28 references.) (Author/SLD)