Effective policies and strategies to impact this goal include:
Parents have the financial and material resources they need to provide for their families.
WHY IS SUFFICIENT HOUSEHOLD RESOURCES AN IMPORTANT PRENATAL-TO-3 GOAL?
Experiences of financial hardship during early childhood can disrupt healthy brain development and compromise the foundation for long-term learning, behavior, and health.1 Approximately 1 in 6 young children in the US, or roughly 16% of children under age 3, live in families with annual household incomes of less than 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL), or $33,000 per year for a family of four.2,3 These families face great difficulties just with meeting basic needs and are likely to face challenges related to adequate shelter, nutrition, and medical care.4 They also are more likely to experience stress, which can compromise parents’ ability to engage in the warm, responsive interactions that are critical to infants’ and toddlers’ healthy development.5,6
The poverty rate varies considerably by race and ethnicity, and children of color are disproportionately likely to face challenges related to financial hardship. Financial hardship is a major predictor of food insecurity, which can lead to malnutrition and have negative impacts on children’s health.7,8,9 Moreover, families with low incomes are more likely face homelessness or housing instability, such as difficulties with rent, moving frequently, spending most of household income on rent, or living in crowded housing.10 Safe and stable housing with the ability access services, schools, and employment is foundational to the health and wellbeing of all individuals and families. Homelessness and housing instability are and often associated with chaotic environments that do not promote healthy child development.11
A June 2025 survey conducted by the US Census Bureau and analyzed by Food Research & Action Center found that 21% of households with children reported sometimes or often not having enough to eat in the past week. In addition to food insecurity, families have struggled with access to affordable housing and these hardships continues to vary by race and ethnicity.12
To limit young children’s exposure to these stressors, which can have serious and long-lasting consequences for health and wellbeing, states can pursue policies and strategies to ensure that parents have adequate financial and material resources. According to our comprehensive reviews of rigorous research, several solutions currently in place at the state level—including earned income tax credits and minimum wage policies—have proven effective at increasing household resources. We provide an overview of these and other solutions, as well as the outcomes states should track to measure their progress toward achieving this goal.
HOW ARE STATES CURRENTLY MEETING THIS PRENATAL-TO-3 GOAL?
Four outcome measures illustrate whether families with young children have sufficient household resources: (1) child poverty, (2) crowded housing, (3) homelessness, and (4) food insecurity. These outcomes vary considerably across states, as well as by race and ethnicity.
All four outcome measures were calculated intentionally in the negative direction to demonstrate where states have room for improvement and to help states prioritize the prenatal-to-3 policy goals. Out of 51 states, the state lagging furthest behind ranks 51st, and the leading state ranks first. The median state indicates that half of states have outcomes that measure better than that state, whereas half of states have outcomes that are worse. Importantly, the “leading” state on a given outcome does not necessarily indicate a target for all other states to strive toward; even in the states with the best outcomes, many children and families are struggling.
OUTCOME MEASURE: CHILD POVERTY
% children under age 3 in poverty
Median state value: 15.1%
Nearly 1 out of 6 US children under age 3 lives in poverty, which can lead to a host of negative health and developmental outcomes in the immediate and long term. Infants and toddlers who live in the five lagging states on this indicator are 2 to 3 times as likely to live in poverty as children under age 3 who live in the five leading states. Black children are over 3 times as likely as White children to live in poverty, and Hispanic children have rates of child poverty that are more than twice the rate of White children.
Source: 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS).
Note: Any data marked with an asterisk should be interpreted with caution.
OUTCOME MEASURE: CROWDED HOUSING
% children under age 3 living in crowded households
Median state value: 15.2%
Crowded housing is linked to housing instability and chaotic environments that impede healthy child development. Children living in the five lagging states on this indicator are 2.5 to 5.5 times more likely to live in crowded housing compared to children living in the five leading states. Rates vary considerably by race and ethnicity: Nearly one-third of Hispanic children under age 3 live in crowded housing, compared to one-quarter of Black children and 11% of White children.
Source: 2024 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS).
Notes: Any data marked with an asterisk should be interpreted with caution. Research also finds that the standard ACS overcrowding threshold (people-per-room ratio) does not consistently predict housing insecurity or harmful outcomes for families with children; it can reflect purposive living arrangements as well as hardship, and experts have called for more nuanced measures of insecurity that are not yet available in annual data.
OUTCOME MEASURE: HOMELESSNESS
% children under age 3 experiencing homelessness
Median state value: 2.5%
Homelessness is stressful, exacerbates existing challenges that a family faces, and is linked to poorer child and parent mental and physical health, and employment outcomes. Children living in the five lagging states on this indicator are 3 to 8 times more likely to be experiencing homelessness compared to children living in the five leading states. Data by race and ethnicity are not available.
Source: SchoolHouse Connection, US Department of Education.
Note: Any data marked with an asterisk should be interpreted with caution.
OUTCOME MEASURE: FOOD INSECURITY
% of households reporting child food security
Median state value: 7.1%
Adequate nutrition is essential to promoting healthy development in infants and toddlers. Approximately 6.5% of children under age 3 lack food security, leaving them vulnerable to malnutrition and long-term health problems. In the five lagging states, over 1 in 10 children is food insecure, and the rates vary considerably by race and ethnicity. Food insecurity among Black children under age 3 is over 3 times greater than among White children, and Hispanic children are more than 2.5 times as likely as their White counterparts to be food insecure.
Source: 2022-2024 Current Population Survey (CPS), Food Security Supplement Public Use Microdata
Sample (PUMS).
Note: Any data marked with an asterisk should be interpreted with caution.
Note: Data was unavailable for VT so rankings are out of 50 states instead of 51.
For additional information regarding calculation details, data quality, and source data please refer to Methods and Sources.
For more information on outcomes by goal, including by race and ethnicity and state, see the 2025 Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap section on outcomes across the US.
WHAT ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE POLICIES AND STRATEGIES TO IMPACT SUFFICIENT HOUSEHOLD RESOURCES?
Based on comprehensive reviews of the most rigorous evidence available, the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center identified effective solutions that foster the nurturing environments infants and toddlers need. For each of the policies, the evidence points to a specific policy lever that states can implement to impact outcomes. For the strategies, the evidence clearly links the strategy to PN-3 outcomes, but the current evidence base does not provide clear guidance on how states should implement each strategy to positively impact outcomes. The state policies and strategies with demonstrated effectiveness at supporting sufficient household resources include: expanded income eligibility for health insurance, paid family and medical leave, state minimum wage, state earned income tax credit, child care subsidies, and cash transfers.
For more information on the impact of state-level policies and strategies in the prenatal-to-3 period, search the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Clearinghouse for an ongoing inventory of rigorous evidence reviews. To learn more about the impact of effective policies and strategies on the eight prenatal-to-3 policy goals, see the Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap.
WHAT OTHER SOLUTIONS ARE STATES PURSUING THAT CAN HELP BUILD THE EVIDENCE BASE?
Beyond the policies and strategies proven effective by the current research, states also are pursuing other approaches that hold promise for improving sufficient household resources; these approaches have not yet accumulated enough rigorous research to enable drawing conclusions on their effectiveness, or the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center has not yet conducted a comprehensive evidence review for the approach. Other solutions states are pursuing that can help build the evidence base on sufficient household resources include, but are not limited to:
- Child and dependent care tax credits, which help subsidize child care expenses by providing a tax credit to reduce tax liability or provide a tax refund among families with children in which adults are working or attending school; and
- Child tax credits, which aim to increase household resources by providing a tax credit to reduce tax liability or provide a refund for taxpayers with children.
SOURCES
- Shonkoff, J. (2017). Breakthrough impacts: What science tells us about supporting early childhood development. YC Young Children, 72(2), 8-16
- Calculations were done by the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center using the 2024 American Community Survey (ACS), 1-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS)
- United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. (2026). US federal poverty guidelines used to determine financial eligibility for certain programs. https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2019). A roadmap to reducing child poverty. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25246
- Center on the Developing Child. (n.d.) Serve and return. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/serve-and-return/
- Center on the Developing Child. (n.d.) Neglect. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/deep-dives/neglect/
- Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M. P., Gregory, C. A., & Singh, A. (2017). Household food security in the United States in 2016 (Economic Research Report No. 237). Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture
- Alaimo, K. (2005.) Food insecurity in the United States: An overview. Topics in Clinical Nutrition 20(4): 281–298
- Gundersen, C., & Ziliak, J. P. (2014.) Childhood food insecurity in the US: Trends, causes, and policy options. The Future of Children 24(2): 1–19
- Solari, C. D., & Mare, R. D. (2012). Housing crowding effects on children’s wellbeing. Social Science Research, 41(2), 464–476. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.09.012
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Sept. 10, 2021). Tracking the COVID-19 economy’s effects on food, housing, and employment hardships. Census Pulse Survey data from Aug. 18-30, 2021. Retrieved on Sept. 13, 2021, from https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/8-13-20pov_0.pdf.
- Perez, R. (2026, May 29). Census Bureau’s household trends survey shows high food insufficiency among families with children. Food Research & Action Center. https://frac.org/blog/census-bureaus-household-trends-survey-shows-high-food-insufficiency-among-families-with-children
