Child poverty eludes conservative theories about poverty primarily because children are incapable of taking care of themselves. Consequently, the typical conservative response is to hold parents responsible for the predicament of their children and to blame government for its misguided intervention. However, a close examination of the empirical evidence that conservatives use to support their position reveals that the data are nonexistent or that such data are more the consequence of poverty rather than its cause. Reflecting the progressive position of the author, it is suggested that an economy which fails to provide decent jobs at decent wages and a system of poor relief that provides too little too late, are the significant source of the problem of poverty. Therefore, the continuing effort to reduce or terminate benefits to the poor, along with a blind belief in the perfection of the capitalist market, impairs rather than improve the plight of poor children.