Wisconsin has seen a significant increase in childhood poverty under Governor Walker and the GOP legislature. They are failing the children of Wisconsin and should be held to account for it.
Wisconsin was one of 27 states which saw an increase in childhood poverty between 2009 and 2010 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The number and percentage of children in poverty increased in 27 states from the 2009 ACS to the 2010 ACS. The child poverty rate increased 2.0 percentage points or more in Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The child poverty rate also increased by 1.5 percentage points or more in Alabama, California, Georgia, and Louisiana, and increased by 1.0 percentage point or more in Florida, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
But poverty, like income, is not evenly distributed. It targets certain groups and localities. But it is both surprising and shameful that Wisconsin’s African American children are the poorest in the nation. Not Mississippi. Not Alabama. Not Louisiana. Wisconsin. Our Wisconsin has the poorest African American children in America.
Maryland had the lowest rate of child poverty for Black children, estimated at 22.2 percent. Among the states with the highest rates were Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin (47.0 percent to 53.3 percent).
In the US, the number of African American children in poverty grew 1.9% between 2009 and 2010 but in Wisconsin, the number grew a whopping 6.1% over the same time period. That’s 3x the national average. By contrast, white children in Wisconsin and the nation experienced statistically no change in their poverty rate.
I’d like to ask Governor Walker if he feels that this is working, too.
[UPDATE] As has been pointed out in the comments, these data represent a time prior to Governor Walker taking office. That is correct, Governor Doyle owns these results for his time in office. However, I reiterate my question in light of the ongoing cuts to public services in Wisconsin (thousands of children thrown off the BadgerCare rolls, decrease in access to food stamps, etc.), how this will improve the situation for an increasingly impoverished African American population in Wisconsin. What specific anti-poverty policies has Governor Walker’s administration or the GOP controlled legislature implemented to deal with these horrific numbers?
Since this is for time period prior to Governor Walker’s election, I fail to see how he is to blame for an increase in childhood poverty. It would definitely be more appropriate to blame Doyle. Blame fail.
You are correct, but my question is still pertinent. What policies has Walker or the Legislature implemented to specifically tackle this problem?
But that wasn’t your original post. You threw out a charge, and it was NOT backed by the facts. If you want to whine and blame Walker for something he’s done NOW, then do so.
Your post is blatently false in its premise and your assumption. But of course, you and your cheerleaders will somehow spin your post.
Seems to me that you have plenty of ammo…but this one was a clear blank. Admit and move on.
By all means, don’t engage in the discussion. Pound me all you like. I published a post before it was done. Mea culpa.
None of that changes the fact that Governor Walker who currently “owns” this problem, along with the GOP controlled legislature, do not have a plan to address the report (which was just released, BTW).
In fact, the policies they do have in place will only exacerbate the problem, not improve it. But that’s not really an issue for the GOP because these poor African American kids will grow up to be African American adults, most of whom, when they vote, won’t vote for the likes of Walker and his cronies anyway. So the GOP attitude seems to be “fuck ’em.”
Please, tell me how the Walker / Fitzgerald team will address African American poverty, most of which is concentrated in a few wards of Milwaukee. Please, I want to know.
No, I am engaged in discussion. Can you please post the FACT that your screed about Walker was devoid of FACTS to back up your writing.
And while we are at it, what was Doyle’s plan? Under his watch, the numbers deteriorated (as you pointed out) but I did not see the hand-wringing about the plight of the poor.
No, you are caught in an outright FALSEHOOD, but yet you want to try and turn the argument around. Nice try, but I should expect as much.
I don’t think Doyle did a good job on poverty, either. But Doyle isn’t at the reins any more. So what exactly is Walker doing other than kicking kids off of BadgerCare?
Who was Governor of Wisconsin between 2009 and 2010? Scott Walker was sworn in Jan. 3, 2011.
My question should have been: What is Governor Walker doing about it NOW? Not much.
Facts…who needs facts? I also hear that Walker is responsible for the Black Plague and the Little Ice Age.
I guess my question remains: What are he and the legislature doing to tackle this startling challenge? As far as I can see, not much.
Patrick and Mark…you are 100% correct that Governor Walker wasn’t in Madison in 2009 nor 2010…but he is the governor right now and he hasn’t done a darn thing to reverse the trend…and he was county executive where the most dire African American poverty exists in Wisconsin and I think you will be hard put to find anything he did during that period to improve the situation as well.
Thanks Ed. It’s a clear case of me forgetting to write a whole paragraph… I have updated the post.
And the update does NOTHING to prove, or disprove, if these numbers will go up, down, or sideways.
You can argue until you are blue in the face that Waker hasn’t done anything, but until these updated stats come out, you are grasping at straws.
And by the way, one paragraph won’t fix your obvious stretch to try and blame something on Walker.
The original version of this post lacked clarity due to my haste in getting it published. I have updated the post to reflect my intent and the question I want to ask Governor Walker. How is he improving the lives of his citizens, especially those most vulnerable citizens, children in poverty. And of those, African American children in poverty represent a staggering policy failure of both past and present administrations. What is he doing to improve the lives of these children whose only crime was to be born to poor parents?
And now, Milwaukee area food banks are reporting a shortage of food for the holidays.