Fewer kids being born in Wayne Co., study says, but more of them are poor
Source: The Detroit Free Press
By: Jack Kresnak, Free Press Staff Writer
Published: April 23, 2007
While the number of births in Wayne County has declined over the past few years, more of the county’s children are living in poverty, according to a study released today.
The demographic study was conducted by the Detroit-based United Way of Southeastern Michigan on behalf of Great Start, a countywide collaborative that promotes programs to help children develop from birth to age 5.
According to Kurt Metzger of the United Way, the number of children who are younger than age 6 and living in poverty rose in Detroit from almost 37% in 1999 to almost 46% in 2005. The number of children in Wayne County living in poverty rose from almost 25% to just under 30% in that period.
Metzger said that there were 40,680 births in Wayne County in 1990 and 27,422 in 2005, a decrease of about a third. Just over 11,000 of that decrease occurred in the city of Detroit.
Metzger also said that 29 of every 100 babies in Wayne County are born to mothers who did not receive adequate prenatal care, and 1 in 4 babies in the county is born to a mother without a high school diploma. Both are indicators that the children will struggle in school, Metzger said.
There was some good news: The number of children found to have lead poisoning decreased to 5.2%, though more children are being tested, Metzger said.
Great Start, a public-private collaborative funded mostly by the Kellogg Foundation, is at the beginning of a 10-year effort to improve the well-being of children in Wayne County. Similar groups exist in about 20 other Michigan counties, including Oakland. They are part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s effort to focus on programs for very young children, a response to recent scientific research that says most of a child’s brain capacity develops in the first three to five years of life.
John Colina, president of the Southgate-based Colina Foundation, said that for every $1 spent on early childhood development, the public receives $17 in benefits that include a better-educated and higher-earning workforce and fewer children failing in school and going on to become criminals.
Virginia Burns Saleem, manager of Detroit Head Start, who represented Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at a Great Start briefing in Dearborn this morning, echoed Colina’s statement, saying, “If there’s no investment, there’s no return.”
For more information about Great Start and its efforts to get people involved in helping children, go to www.greatstartcollaborativewayne.org.
Contact JACK KRESNAK at 313-223-4544 or jkresnak@freepress.com.
[Source]
By: Jack Kresnak, Free Press Staff Writer
Published: April 23, 2007
While the number of births in Wayne County has declined over the past few years, more of the county’s children are living in poverty, according to a study released today.
The demographic study was conducted by the Detroit-based United Way of Southeastern Michigan on behalf of Great Start, a countywide collaborative that promotes programs to help children develop from birth to age 5.
According to Kurt Metzger of the United Way, the number of children who are younger than age 6 and living in poverty rose in Detroit from almost 37% in 1999 to almost 46% in 2005. The number of children in Wayne County living in poverty rose from almost 25% to just under 30% in that period.
Metzger said that there were 40,680 births in Wayne County in 1990 and 27,422 in 2005, a decrease of about a third. Just over 11,000 of that decrease occurred in the city of Detroit.
Metzger also said that 29 of every 100 babies in Wayne County are born to mothers who did not receive adequate prenatal care, and 1 in 4 babies in the county is born to a mother without a high school diploma. Both are indicators that the children will struggle in school, Metzger said.
There was some good news: The number of children found to have lead poisoning decreased to 5.2%, though more children are being tested, Metzger said.
Great Start, a public-private collaborative funded mostly by the Kellogg Foundation, is at the beginning of a 10-year effort to improve the well-being of children in Wayne County. Similar groups exist in about 20 other Michigan counties, including Oakland. They are part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s effort to focus on programs for very young children, a response to recent scientific research that says most of a child’s brain capacity develops in the first three to five years of life.
John Colina, president of the Southgate-based Colina Foundation, said that for every $1 spent on early childhood development, the public receives $17 in benefits that include a better-educated and higher-earning workforce and fewer children failing in school and going on to become criminals.
Virginia Burns Saleem, manager of Detroit Head Start, who represented Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at a Great Start briefing in Dearborn this morning, echoed Colina’s statement, saying, “If there’s no investment, there’s no return.”
For more information about Great Start and its efforts to get people involved in helping children, go to www.greatstartcollaborativewayne.org.
Contact JACK KRESNAK at 313-223-4544 or jkresnak@freepress.com.
[Source]
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