Child Poverty in Minnesota Increases

The Children's Defense Fund - Minnesota has released their 2009 Kids Count Data book, The Building Blocks for Successful Children. According to this research, 140,000 children in Minnesota lived in poverty in 2008 - an increase of more than 20% from 2000. These numbers do not include any additional families that may have fallen into poverty due to the current economic recession. CDF estimates that an additional 44, 000 - 56,000 children could now be counted as living in poverty.

Poverty is a significant predictor for a child's future success in school and in life. Without investments in the early years to lay a solid foundation, these children will struggle to become our future leaders.

From the CDF press release:

KIDS COUNT Fact Sheet

Losing Ground:
• 11 percent of Minnesota’s children lived in poverty in 2008.
• 24 percent of Asian children in Minnesota live below the poverty level in 2007, the worst among all 32 states participating in KIDS COUNT with enough Asian children to produce reliable estimates.
• 88,000 Minnesota children did not have health care coverage in 2008, an increase from 2007.
• 270,247 (33 percent) Minnesota children received free/reduced price lunch during the 2008-2009 school year.

Gaining Ground:
• Students dropping out of school has declined 57 percent since 2000.
• 6,277 children were abused and neglected, a 33 percent decrease from 2002.
• 10,895 children were arrested for a serious crime, down from 15,398 in 2000.

The Children's Defense Fund - Minnesota also has county-level data that shows how children are living compared to other years.