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State of
Milwaukee's Children in 1998:
Family Income/Economic Support
Report
prepared by Lois Quinn, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Employment and Training
Institute, for Start Smart Milwaukee!, May 1999 This special
report assesses the economic condition of Milwaukee County families with children and
summarizes data on financial supports provided children in need. Start Smart
Milwaukee!
has made FAMILY INCOME/ ECONOMIC SUPPORT a priority during Wisconsin's
conversion to a work-based welfare system. "Access for all families with young children to
opportunities that provide a foundation of
economic support" is one of six community goals of Start Smart Milwaukee!, an
organization
committed to give Milwaukee County children a chance to enter school healthy and ready to
learn. The
complete report is available in PDF format online. [A more recent
report on the
Economic Status of Milwaukee County Children is
also available online.]
FINDINGS
- 65,000 fewer Milwaukee County children receive public income support than five
years ago.
Current information is lacking on earnings of Milwaukee County families leaving public
assistance. Start Smart
Milwaukee! has requested state data on quarterly wages of families who left AFDC and
"W-2."
- According to state tax returns for the last five years, 39% more Milwaukee County single
parents are
"working poor." One out of every three employed single parents had income earnings below
the poverty level in
1997, and two out of every three had income earnings below 185% of poverty.
- In spite of their parents' work efforts, at least 61,000 Milwaukee County children are in
employed families
with earnings below poverty. Without additional public or private support, these families do not
earn enough to
adequately support their children. Over 111,500 children are in families with income earnings
below 185% of
poverty.
- The number of children receiving county-administered day care assistance nearly doubled
in the last three
years. Still, fewer than 15% of eligible children in low-income families are receiving day care
support.
- Federal and state earned income tax credits raised family earnings above the poverty level
for 16,000
children. About 90% of eligible families are claiming the credit.
- Although the number of "working poor" employed families has increased, the number
of children receiving
food stamps benefits dropped by nearly 30,000 from 1993 to 1998.
- Over the last 2-1/2 years the number of children enrolled in medical assistance through
Healthy Start increased by
10,800 while the number of other children receiving medical assistance coverage declined by
24,800.
The full report, available online
in PDF format, analyzes numbers of children receiving income support, food stamps, medical
assistance, earned income tax credits and day care support. The study includes analyses of the
growing population of "working poor" single parent families in Milwaukee County, numbers of
children in employed families with income earnings below poverty, and employment concerns
of single mothers with young children.
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