140,000 of Minnesota's kids are living in poverty

Rising child poverty means that more Minnesota children are suffering physical and emotional "toxic stress" that, for some, will result in irreversible delays in brain development, according to a new report that tracks 14 indicators of child well-being over the last decade.

Even in the best years, more than 100,000 Minnesota children live poverty. But the past few years have not been good for children, according to the 2009 Kids Count report by the Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota.

About 140,000 Minnesota children were in poverty last year - up from 106,000 in 2001 - and the current recession may have pushed that number as high as 180,000, said Kara Arzamendia, the report's main author and the agency's research director.

"Kids are resilient, and the wonder is that some overcome the effects of poverty," said Jim Koppel, president of the nonprofit agency. "But there's a lot of research that shows a lasting impact of poverty on many children. That hurts the children and it hurts society with more crime, fewer trained workers and a range of social problems."

In its annual Kids Count report, the Children's Defense Fund examines a range of demographic, education, health, income and other government-collected data.

The report expands on a state-by-state analysis by the Annie E. Casey Foundation released in August that found Minnesota second-best among the states.

The new report is scheduled to be posted online at www.cdf-mn.org at 10 a.m. today. That version also includes county-by-county information on many of the measures.

"While some good things are happening in Minnesota, overall it's been pretty tough -- and getting tougher," Arzamendia said.

The good news

Since 2000, a number of measures of child well-being have improved, the report says.

The number of children who are abused or neglected has dropped by nearly half, to 6,277. The number who dropped out of high school has fallen by more than half, to 9,000.

The number of children arrested for serious crimes fell 30 percent, to 10,895; teen deaths fell 7 percent, to 182, and child deaths fell 20 percent, to 142.

Losing ground

But on measures often associated with poverty, children have fared more poorly.

For instance, 351,000 children -- 28 percent of the state's 1.26 million children -- live in families where no parent has a full-time, year-round job. That's 65,000 more than in 2000.

There are 88,000 children without health insurance, up 16 percent since 2000, and 270,000 children get free or reduced-cost lunch, up 24 percent.

"In this recession, many people at the lowest rungs of the economy have lost jobs or had their work hours cut," Koppel said. "Until conditions improve, more children will go without necessities to help them thrive. The toxic effects of poverty will continue."

Koppel said the report is intended to help Minnesotans better understand the status of children and to encourage public policies that help children do well.

"You can talk about all the symptoms -- kids' failing health, falling behind in school, problems with self esteem, poor nurturing, unsafe living conditions," Koppel said. "But under it all is one over-arching problem, and the problem is poverty.

"We all say that the future depends on our children," he said, "but sometimes we don't act like it."

Warren Wolfe • 612-673-7253