A new study finds that more American children are living in poverty compared to 20 years ago -- 13 million U.S. children in poverty, about 29 percent more than in 1979 -- even as the nation continues its longest economic expansion in history.

The "Child Poverty in the States: Levels and Trends from 1979 to 1998" report by the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University shows the poverty rate for all American children reached 18.7 percent in 1998. By comparison, the 1979 rate was 16.2 percent.

The problem is that most states haven't fully recovered from the 1993 economic slowdown, which drove the child poverty rate to its highest level in decades. In 1993, 22.5 percent of all American children were living in poverty, a 40-percent jump during a 14-year period when the nation was supposedly doing well.

Even though the numbers have improved since 1993, most states still haven't fully eliminated that increase.

Arkansas, Illinois, New Jersey and South Dakota have actually reduced their child poverty rates since 1979, but most other states have not done as well, and in fact the "child poverty rate increased significantly in 14 states," the NCCP report states.

California -- the nation's most populous state -- also has the distinction of having the largest number of poor children, growing from less than 900,000 in 1979 to more than 2.1 million children in 1998, the latest year covered by the statistics. This means 1 in 6 poor American children live in the Golden State, contrasted to 1 in 11 in 1979.

The general explanation for the continued high rate is lower wages by working-poor parents, who also face higher living costs, the Washington Post reports.

Families where parents are just earning minimum wage are well below established poverty lines, Deborah Leff, president and CEO of America’s Second Harvest, told the newspaper. "You can get off welfare, work hard, play by the rules and still not be able to feed your family," Leff said.

A report issued in June by UNICEF singled out the U.S. and Britain as nations that, despite their great wealth, have neglected social services to the point where the health and well-being of the youngest generation is in question.

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