Frontline

Poor Kids

These are hard times in the Quad Cities, a great American crossroads along the border of Iowa and Illinois, where the Mississippi River intersects Interstate 80. It's home to John Deere manufacturing and the nation's breadbasket. But it's also an area deeply scarred by the recession. FRONTLINE spent months following three young girls who are growing up against the backdrop of their families' struggles against financial ruin. The result is an intimate portrait of the economic crisis as it's rarely seen, through the eyes of children. At a time when one in five American kids lives below the poverty line, Poor Kids is an unflinching and revealing exploration of what poverty means to children, and to the country's future.