Earned-income credit boosts Michigan’s low-income workers, By Brian J. O’Connor, February 16, 2010, Detroit News: “Michiganians struggling to just get by in this dismal economy are getting a helping hand from an unlikely source: the tax man. Federal and state tax agencies have anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars to give low-income workers and their families through the Earned Income Tax Credit. Last year, more than 720,000 Michigan residents collected $1.5 billion from the federal credit, at an average of $2,047 apiece. More than 40 percent of those getting the credit lived in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties. Michigan gave out $145 million under the first year of its own state credit, which matched 10 percent of the federal cash, and this year the state is set to match 20 percent of the federal amount…”
Day: February 16, 2010
Kids Count Report – Texas
Almost 25% of children in Bexar live in poverty, By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, February 13, 2010, San Antonio Express-News: “Almost a quarter of the children in Bexar County lived in poverty and lacked health insurance in 2008, according to a new study on poverty in Texas. And while the numbers dropped slightly compared with a similar study the year before, this still means roughly one in four children struggled with the byproducts of poverty: poor school performance, health woes, hunger and circumscribed futures. ‘Decades of belt-tightening have left us with more poor, uninsured and hungry children than almost every other state,’ said Frances Deviney, director of Texas KIDS COUNT. A poor economy in 2009 means the dismal outlook likely stretched to even more children, Deviney added…”
Poor Children and School Readiness – United Kingdom
- Poor children a year behind in language skills, By Warwick Mansell, February 15, 2010, The Guardian: “The vocabulary of children from the poorest backgrounds lags more than a year behind that of their classmates from richer homes by the time they start school, a major new study showed today. The Sutton Trust, the charity which sponsored the research, said the divide was a ‘tragic indictment of modern society’, showing how educational inequality starts young and leaves children from the most disadvantaged homes struggling to keep up throughout their school years. The poorest children face multiple challenges, being less likely to be born to well-educated parents, have a regular bedtime or live with both their biological father and mother, the study found. However, it also concluded that ‘good parenting can triumph’, with families able to limit the effects of poverty by, for example, reading to their children daily…”
- Poor children a year behind when they start school, study says, By Nicola Woolcock, February 15, 2010, The Times: “Children from poor families are already a year behind in vocabulary tests when they start school, according to research published today. It reveals the full impact of upbringing and home life on attainment, and how those from troubled or impoverished homes can fall behind at a young age. Many never catch up with better-off classmates and become stuck in a cycle of underachievement. The report, by the Sutton Trust, highlights the importance of activities such as bedtime stories and taking children to museums and libraries. In isolation, these appear to have a bigger impact on progress than wealth…”