last week, we got another sobering reminder of poverty when the annie e. casey foundation released their findings about the shocking number of children living in poverty in the united states. patrick mccarthy is the ceo of the annie e. casey foundation and joins us tonight from atlanta. good to have you on the program. thanks for time. >> thank you. happy to be here. tavis: let me start with white. why so many children and an increasing number of children in poverty in the richest nation in the world? >> i think we start with the incredible impact of the recession since 2007. we have seen 18% more children in poverty since the year 2000 through 2009 because of the recession. that means we have almost 15 million children living below the poverty line in this country. as of 2009. on top of that, we have got a total of 31 million children who actually live in families that make less than two under% of the federal poverty level. in other words, they are close to economic danger. one or two paychecks away from economic catastrophe. >tavis: why is this allow to happen

a new report from the annie e. caseyndation finds that the poverty rate among children has risen by 18% over the last decade. that means two million more children dropped below the poverty line between 2000 and 2009 back to levels of the early '90s. "newshour" economics correspondent paul solman is looking at the widening wealth gap. tonight, he explores possible connections between inequality and the financial crisis. it's part of his reporting on "making sense of financial news." >> reporter: at boston missionary baptist, a convocation of churches from across the city, with congregates who'd finished the debts to assets program. >> roxbury presbyterian church, 38 graduates! >> reporter: a six-week financial literacy course run by the greater boston interfaith organization. >> boston missionary baptist church, 116 graduates! ( applause ) >> reporter: the new alums were graduating from debt in amounts that beggar the borrower, and the imagination. >> after four years of working hard at this, i've been able to pay off a g

explores the rapid rise in poverty levels among american children with patrick mccarthy of the annie e. casey foundation. >> those kids who fell into poverty in fact were less likely to graduate from school, more likely to have school problems, more likely to have educational difficulty and even health was affected over the long term. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> auto companies make huge profits. >> last year, chevron made a lot of money. >> where does it go? >> every penny and more went into bringing energy to the world. >> the economy is tough right now, everywhere. >> we pumped $21 million into local economies, into small businesses, communities, equipment, materials. >> that money could make a big difference to a lot of people. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadca

e. casey -- annie e casey foundation, serving 500,000 children in the nation today.raised me. it bears mentioning as i hail from the free state during the missouri compromise that black children were not allowed to be raised by any other family but black families. and there are a lot of black people in maine. believe it or not good that said, my foster mother, born in 1902, whose sister was the first executive secretary to the united states gov., gov. deaver, give me this gift of love. agatha arsis, room, i jumped into bed first. there were trinkets, be it, pill bottles, jars of cold cream, face founder. -- powder, fabulous and expensive way constanzo. -- expensive way this -- wigs on stands. all in the compact new england sleeping space. in the rare occasion that i was ill, there is always a jar of vicks they arrive at the ready. does anybody know what i am talking about? that cure that she would rubble on my chest with love and then give me a teaspoon of with love. i always thought it would kill me. i never asked why. i just swallowed. i could feel it like a soft b