REPORT: POVERTY UP IN WISCONSIN, CLARK CO.
Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 -- 11:45 AM
New data shows poverty in Wisconsin and Clark County has increased in the last five years.In 2010, the federal poverty line was $22,314 for a family of four and $11,139 for one person.
A report by the Applied Population Lab at UW-Madison shows 13.2% of the state's population was living in poverty in 2010, compared to 8.7% in 2000. Wisconsin residents remain better off than the national average, but the gap has closed.
In 2009, Clark County?s poverty rate was 12.7%, significantly higher than the statewide average of 11.1% for that year.
"It's kind of an overall trend," explains researcher Rozaline Klaas. "Some counties were worse off than others."
Poverty, historically, has affected older members of the population. However, elderly poverty rates have dramatically declined since the 1970s, while child poverty rates have increased over the same period.
"It's not them that are working, it's their parents. And with the declining income, the recession and unemployment, the poverty rates have gone up," she says.
22 Wisconsin counties reported increases in child poverty over the past decade. Most notably, Wood, Fond du Lac, Marathon, and Jefferson counties reported increases of at least 12 percentage points.
The Wisconsin Radio Network contributed to this report.
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