Poverty and infant mortality falls among Michigan children, but so did reading skills, latest report shows
(FOX 2) - Good news came out of the latest Kids Count report that tracks the health and livelihood of Michigan's young people, with falling rates of child poverty, infant mortality, and students experiencing homelessness.
However, the number of 3rd graders proficient in reading declined.
Both trend lines are the product of pandemic-era policies, with historical funding helping lift families out of poverty while making it for students to keep up after missing a year of in-classroom schooling.
But with programs offering help to pay rent and keeping families on Medicaid ending, some worry the gains recorded in 2022 and 2023 could reverse.
"(When data was collected), relief programs were still in place, like emergency rental assistance and increases in food assistance that allowed families to get nutritious food. We see the impact in this year's data," said Anne Kuhnen, the Kids Count policy director at the Michigan League for Public Policy.
The 2024 Kids Count in Michigan which was released this week found a majority of the categories the MLPP uses to track the well-being of children reported improvements between 2017 and 2022.
Declines in child poverty
Kids ages 0–5 years old saw poverty levels drop from 25% to 19.9%. Because having enough money influences everything from transportation to access to food, the number of kids living below the poverty line is seen as a key indicator for other facets of child well-being.
Kuhnen said specific policies born out of the pandemic meant to buoy families through the public health crisis had a major impact on those with the lowest wages.
"We know the low unemployment rate and tight labor market helped wages rise fastest among low-wage workers during the years covered here," she said, "Low-wage workers saw more benefits than high-wage workers and that would have an impact on poverty."
Much of the funding came from the federal government - though it was the state that decided how to allocate those dollars.
Even as some of those programs run out, the latest state budget reflects the successes similar programs had, including expanding universal pre-school, offering free school lunches, and adding $20 million to Michigan's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) fund.
It's the first time the program has received a "meaningful increase" in years, Kuhnen said.
"It's really important because the number of children who have been receiving cash assistance has declined for decades," she said. "It essentially reaches a new all-time low every year."
Infant Mortality rates drop
The number of babies who died before their first birthday fell from 760 in 2017 to 671 in 2022. That's the lowest in at least 11 years, according to the Kids Count Data Center.
The 11% drop is an encouraging sign, and largely pushed by advancements in medical care.
However, it is still above the national average. And buried in the data reveals stark racial disparities still exist in infant mortality rates. Barriers to affordable housing, food, water, and a physician remain tough to overcome in communities with the lowest wealth.
Expanded programs like paid family medical leave would help alleviate some of those challenges, however.
Third-grade reading proficiency drops
One area that did not improve in the annual Kids Count report is the rate of third-graders who can read.
From 2017 to 2022, the number of children proficient in reading dropped by 2%. This is another impact of the pandemic that shuttered schools and forced some kids into remote learning for months, Kuhnen said.
Adding to officials' anxiety about the drop in reading skills is the federal relief money that schools were given to help float them through the pandemic. The funds will run out in September if education districts haven't already spent the money.
The MLPP worries that without more assistance, kids will continue to fall behind.