Kalamazoo County Poverty Reduction Initiative - Poverty & Children

Poverty and Children

According to the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan, children represent a disproportionate share of the poor in the United States. They are 25 percent of the total population, but 35 percent of the poor population. In 2008, 15.45 million children, or 20.7 percent, were poor. The poverty rate for children also varies substantially by race and Hispanic origin.

Data from the Lewis Walker Institute at Western Michigan University shows increasing child poverty for both black and white children, between 1999 and 2009, from 13% to 23% overall; 7% to 21% for white children, and 28% to 40% for black children.
See more Kalamazoo child poverty data from LWI.

Kids Count

The 2011 KIDS COUNT Data Book, released on August 17, 2011, reported a significant decline in economic well-being for low-income children and families over the last decade, with an 18 percent increase in the official child poverty rate between 2000 and 2009. The new 2010 poverty data recently released from the 2010 American Community Survey found that the child poverty rate continues to rise even after the recession, with 22 percent of children living in poverty in 2010. Download the report and read this year's message, "America's Children, America's Challenge: Promoting Opportunity for the Next Generation" for recommendations to alleviate child poverty in the United States.

Kids Count in Michigan

The annual Kids Count in Michigan project is part of a broad national effort to improve conditions for children and their families. Funding for the project is provided by The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Detroit-based Skillman Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation and local United Ways.

It is a collaboration between the Michigan League for Human Services, which researches and writes the report, and Michigan's Children, which works with advocates statewide to disseminate the findings in the report. Both organizations are nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy groups concerned with the well-being of children and their families. We have links to the report on the Michigan League for Human Services website. More state and local data are available at the Kids Count Data Center, datacenter.kidscount.org.

2010
The Kids Count in Michigan Data Book 2010: The Education Connection finds that education does not start and stop at the classroom door. It connects the dots between education and other support systems for children. The report also ranks Michigan's 83 counties on 14 indicators of child well-being.

2009
The Kids Count in Michigan Data Book 2009, examines county level trends in child well-being with a focus on Place Matters–looking at trends in rural, midsized and urban counties. The report ranks the 83 counties on 15 measures of child well-being with No. 1 ranking being the best in the state.

2008
2008 Kids Count in Michigan Data Release- Analysis of the well-being of children nation-wide from the Anne E. Casey Foundation.