The well-being of children is a topic of increasing concern to Americans (Eggebeen and Lichter, forthcoming; National Commission on Children, 1991; Danziger and Stern, 1990; Palmer et al., 1988). One reason for the burgeoning interest is the growing concentration of poverty among children. The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is potentially a very useful source of information about children's economic well-being and about their families. Yet, only a few analysts have used SIPP to study children (e.g., McArthur et al., 1986; Watts, 1987; Bianchi and McArthur, 1991). Moreover, although the quality of overall poverty estimates derived from SIPP has been examined (Williams, 1987), an evaluation of child- and family-based estimates has not yet been performed.

This report presents estimates of the percent of related children under 18 in poverty by age and race, the percent of children under 6 who are poor or near poor by selected family and parental characteristics, and the percent of families receiving AFDC derived from the 1986 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). These estimates are compared with estimates derived from the March 1987 Current Population Survey (CPS), the 1986 National Integrated Quality Control System (NIQCS), and the 1988 Child Health Supplement of the National Health Interview Survey (CHS88). Possible explanations for observed differences in the estimates are discussed. A related paper presents a statistical profile of children in or near poverty and of children born to teenage mothers.