MADISON, Wis.(WHBL) - Sheboygan County is on a list of 47 Wisconsin Counties where there have been significant increases in child poverty. That list was compiled by the Department of Public Instruction after the U-S Census Bureau reported that the number of children living in poverty in the state increased by 4 percent since 2007. Ken Taylor with the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families says the recession is to blame for nearly 17-percent of kids now being considered "poor." Taylor says funding for programs to keep families financially afloat is decreasing. He notes that children in poverty often struggle in school. Taylor says even children in supposedly affluent areas of the state are falling into poverty, after their parents lose their jobs and homes. Recent figures from the Council on Children and Families indicate that 2400 Sheboygan County children slipped into poverty between 2008 and 2009. During that time, the child poverty rate in the county doubled from 7 percent to 14 percent.
