Nation IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Welfare Perception Skewed, Study Finds

More than half of all children under the age of 6 in families officially classified as below the poverty line lived with at least one working parent, a New York advocacy group for poor children said. Of the nation’s 6 million poor children under 6 in 1992, 38% lived with one or two parents who supported their families without any cash public assistance, the National Center for Children in Poverty said. Another 20% scraped by with a combination of earnings and welfare payments, leaving 42% to rely only on public support, the center said. The number of American children younger than 6 living in poverty between 1987 and 1992 increased from 5 million to 6 million, the report said. The report was funded by the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corp. of New York.