MichiganRadio

Michigan's poverty rate rising LANSING, MI (MPRN) -

Poverty rose in Michigan as incomes dropped during the past decade that saw a massive decline in the auto industry.

New data from the U-S Census shows that from 2000 to 2009 the median household income in Michigan dropped faster and further than most other states. Fourteen percent of Michigan households had incomes below the poverty line last year. And one in four children in the state were living in poverty.

Sharon Parks with the Michigan League for Human Services says those numbers are alarming - especially the child poverty statistics.

"It says we'd better be doing something," says Parks, "We have too many children who have a very bleak future if we can't turn those futures around. Child poverty and especially young child poverty has enormous implications in terms child well-being and their future success and in terms of our state's success - they are our future workforce."

Parks says children in poverty are more likely than other kids to suffer from chronic health conditions, obesity, and drop out of school.


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U.S. Census website with Michigan data:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTSelectServlet?ds_name=ACS_2009_1YR_G00_&_lang=en&_ts=303744179848 © Copyright 2012, MPRN