Poor Kids

FRONTLINE spent months following three young girls who are growing up against the backdrop of their families' struggles against financial ruin. At a time when one in five American kids lives below the poverty line, "Poor Kids" is an is an intimate portrait of the economic crisis as it's rarely seen, through the eyes of children.

FRONTLINE spent months following three young girls who are growing up against the backdrop of their families' struggles against financial ruin. At a time when one in five American kids lives below the poverty line, "Poor Kids" is an is an intimate portrait of the economic crisis as it's rarely seen, through the eyes of children.

Eleven-year-old Sera, her sister and her mother moved to San Francisco in 2009. But when the economy collapsed, her mother lost her job and the family now survives on her $600 monthly unemployment checks. They live in a one-room rent subsidized apartment but are one missed payment away from returning to a homeless shelter.