The percentage of children living in deep poverty had been declining at the turn of the century but is now on the rise.b • In 2007, 8 percent of children lived in deep or extreme poverty (below 50 percent of the poverty line). The percentage of children living in extreme poverty was 9 percent in 1995 and had decreased to 7 percent by 2000. Since 2003, it has been 8 percent. • Analyses suggest that children experiencing extreme poverty may be even worse off than their counterparts were in the mid-1990s because their families have become less likely to use the social programs for which they are eligible (such as food stamps and Medicaid).