[Minnesota] Data show decrease of child poverty in county

From Duluth Superior.com, written by Peter Rebhan.

The number of St. Louis County children living in poverty fell by half between 1994 and 2003, according to data presented Friday.

But that good news is tempered by some fuzziness in the numbers, state cuts to health programs and possible fallout from 1997 changes to welfare rules.

"We could look a lot worse in the future," county Commissioner Steve O'Neil said.

O'Neil was among nine people with a professional stake in the welfare of children who attended the presentation by Children's Defense Fund Minnesota. Data compiled for 2003, the most recent available, show that 4,819, or 12 percent, of St. Louis County children lived in poverty in 2003.

The 2003 total was significantly less than the 9,679, or 20 percent, of county children estimated to live in poverty in 1994, though the 2003 total was still a larger percentage than the 8.8 percent of children estimated to live in poverty statewide.

But the margins of error in the county estimates -- 4 and 6 percentage points for 1994 and 2003 respectively -- make it difficult to conclude the county's children are truly better off.