Leader Staff
A new study examining poverty rates in Wisconsin found poverty worsening in Shawano County since 2000, while poverty in Menominee County improved only slightly.
Menominee County’s poverty rate is still high, according to the study, about double the statewide average and well above the national average.
The estimated poverty rate during the five-year span of 2008-2012 was 23.2 percent, compared to 2000, when Menominee County’s poverty rate was 28.8 percent.
The statewide rate for the span of 2008-2012 was 12.5 percent and the national average was 14.9 percent.
In Shawano County, the estimated poverty rate during the five-year span of 2008-2012 was 11.4 percent, an increase from 2000 when the county poverty rate was 7.9 percent.
The study was prepared by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Extension and University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Poverty in Wisconsin rose substantially in the 2000s and early 2010s, according to the study. In 2012, 13.2 percent of the state’s population — roughly 737,356 people — lived in poverty, as compared to 8.7 percent in 2000.
The official statewide poverty rate has remained well above 12 percent since 2009.
“Two recessions and persistently high unemployment have increased economic hardship in Wisconsin,” the study states. “As a result, a larger proportion of households in the state now live in poverty and struggle to secure adequate and nutritious food.”
In 2012, the poverty threshold was $23,050 for a family of four and $11,170 for one person. Households are considered poor if their pre-tax income is below this amount.
Unemployment also rose significantly between 2008 and 2009, and is still substantially above pre-recession rates, according to the study.
In Shawano County, the 2013 unemployment rate was 7.4 percent, higher than the state’s average of 6.7 percent.
In Menominee County, the 2013 unemployment rate was 14.1 percent.
The study also looked at the share of the population participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known in Wisconsin as FoodShare, and at the number of school-age children certified for free or reduced-price meals.
In Shawano County, the proportion of the population receiving FoodShare increased from 7.8 percent in 2000 to 28.6 percent in 2013. The county rate of FoodShare participation in 2013 was higher than the statewide rate of 19.1 percent.
Likewise, there has been substantial growth in the share of children who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals at school.
In Shawano County, that share went from 28 percent in 2000 to 53 percent in 2012.
Statewide, the rate increased from 30.8 percent to 40 percent over that time period.
Children are eligible for free meals if their household income is below 130 percent of the federal poverty line, and children are eligible for reduced-price meals if their household income is below 185 percent of the federal poverty line.
In Menominee County, the proportion of the population receiving FoodShare decreased from 20.4 percent in 2000 to 15.9 percent in 2013. During the same period, the share of school-age children certified for free or reduced-price meals in Menominee County grew from 83 percent to 86 percent, according to the study.