Study Says 20% of U.S. Children Live in Poverty : Families: Children’s Defense Fund urges reforms, including higher minimum wage and guaranteed health care, housing assistance.

One in five American children lives in poverty, and President-elect Bill Clinton must carry out reforms allowing parents to give their children a better life, the Children’s Defense Fund said Thursday.

Among the fund’s suggestions were to raise the minimum wage, guarantee health care and housing assistance for poor families with children, offer income tax credits and increase the federal government’s share in funding education.

“The federal government has to become a strong partner . . . in seeing that our country is healthy again,” said Marian Wright Edelman, president of the fund. “There are certain things America is going to have to do.”

Clinton has suggested giving middle-income taxpayers a choice of either a modest tax break or an expanded deduction for children. Among other things he has proposed are improved access to health care for poor families and fully financing the Head Start early education program and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program.

The fund, formerly chaired by Hillary Clinton, tied its recommendations to its annual report, “The State of America’s Children.” The report found that 14.3 million American children--one of every five--lived in poverty in 1991, the highest number since 1965. The majority were white children living in rural areas or suburbs with at least one employed parent.

The report also said the median income of young families headed by a parent under age 30 fell 32% between 1973 and 1990. About 2.7 million children were reported abused or neglected last year, and 429,000 were in foster homes, group homes or institutions.

“We are in danger of becoming two nations--one of First World privilege and another of Third World deprivation--struggling against increasing odds to coexist,” the report said.

Fund researchers suggested that Clinton work to ensure that immunization and child care programs are available to the poorest families, and that he create a “national child support assurance system” to tighten enforcement of child support payments. They also said he should set minimum levels of support that absent parents must pay.

The researchers also sought more community recreation programs for children and teen-agers, and stricter gun control measures to “keep deadly weapons out of the hands of children and adolescents and those who prey upon young people.”