Study: Detroit worst big city for childhood poverty
Karen Bouffard, The Detroit News12:09 a.m. EST February 19, 2015
(Photo: Charles V. Tines / The Detroit News, file)
Detroit continues to have more children living in extreme poverty than any of the
nation's 50 largest cities, according to a national report released Thursday.
More than 59 percent of Detroit children lived in poverty in 2012, the most recent year for
which data is available, according to the national Kids Count report, an annual project of the
Annie E. Casey Foundation. The number of poor Detroit kids increased 34 percent since 2006,
according to the study, which was partially funded by the Skillman Foundation.
It's part of a statewide problem in Michigan, where one in four children live in extreme poverty,
according to the report. The number of Michigan children mired in poverty increased 35 percent
over six years, to nearly 25 percent.
More than a half-million Michigan kids were found to be living in poverty, defined as $23,600
or less a year for a two-parent family of four. Among African American children, 48 percent
were living in poverty statewide.
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