Census Says 17.5 Percent of Texans and 25 Percent of Texas Children Live in Poverty

Food Banks Ask for Support for Hunger Relief Efforts That “Feed with Impact”

For Immediate Release: September 18, 2014
Contact: Celia Cole, 512-590-0659 or ccole@feedingtexas.org

Austin, Texas - 4,530,039 Texans (or 17.5 percent) lived in households with income below the federal poverty line in 2013, according to Census data released today. This number included 1,740,560, or 25 percent of all Texas children. These rates were statistically unchanged from 2012.

“Texas leads the nation in opportunity, but too many hard-working Texans are still struggling to make ends meet, despite overall gains in the economy,” said Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas. “Our food banks are linking their hunger relief efforts with other assistance to increase family economic stability and break the cycle of poverty. We call this feeding with impact.”

The Texas state legislature, which will convene in January, will have opportunities to address poverty and food insecurity in partnership with the food banks.

The 2013 federal poverty line was $23,550 for a family of four.