More kids in state slide into poverty

WASHINGTON -- Michigan's troubled economy contributed to a 36 percent jump in the number of children living in poverty between 2000 and 2005, as an additional 116,000 children slipped below the poverty line.

More than 479,000 of Michigan's 2.5 million children were living in poverty in 2005, up from about 363,000 in 2000, the annual Kids Count report released today indicates. The survey tracks child well-being nationally.

``We know we're in really bad shape in Michigan, but I think it's stunning that the child poverty rate has increased so rapidly, far more rapidly than most other states,'' said Jane Zehnder-Merrell, a spokeswoman for the Michigan League for Human Services, a public-policy group that advocates for low-income families.

``The national increase for that same period was 12 percent,'' she said.

A family of four -- two adults and two children -- was considered to be living in poverty if the household income was below $19,806 in 2005.

In Kalamazoo, the statistics are reflected in the number of people seeking help from Loaves and Fishes, the local food pantry.

Anne Lipsey, executive director of Loaves and Fishes, said in recent years the program has instituted several programs targeted at children. It offers a milk-voucher program that in June provided 1,204 gallons of fresh milk for families with children.

The pantry also has a weekend food-pack program that during the school year gives food to children in public schools.

Kalamazoo Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Gary Start said the district has seen gradual increases in the number of needy children. The district is increasingly seeking grants to develop programs for such things as reading recovery, tutoring and lower class sizes, which serve a high percentage of poor children.

The Kids Count report comes from the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, which evaluates the status of children state by state using 10 measures, including teen births, infant mortality rates, child death rates and high school dropout rates.

Michigan's high school dropout rate fell 30 percent, from 10 percent to 7 percent, between 2000 and 2005. That paralleled the national decline of about 36 percent.

Meanwhile, the state's teen birth rate -- the number of births per 1,000 teen girls -- dropped by 15 percent, from 40 to 34 births, between 2000 and 2005.

The report shows that 35 percent of Michigan's children lived in households where parents didn't have full-time, permanent jobs in 2005. Also, about one-third of children were living in single-parent households.

The state earned its best ranking on the child-death indicator -- 10th best among the 50 states. Michigan had 19 deaths per 100,000 children, ages 1-14 in 2004, down from 22 in 2000. The national average was 20 deaths per 100,000 children in 2004.

Michigan ranked 27th among the states on overall child well-being. Minnesota ranked first, and Mississippi ranked last.

Gazette staff writer Linda S. Mah contributed to this report.