Report: More Michigan children living in poverty - WICU12/WSEE Erie, PA News, Sports, Weather and Events

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A new report says more than a half-million Michigan children lived in poverty in 2011.
    
The annual Kids Count in Michigan Data Book reports Thursday that the number of children living in families with incomes below the poverty level grew by 28 percent between 2005 and 2010.
    
Jane Zehnder-Merrell is project director of Kids Count in Michigan.  She tells The Associated Press that the state's consistently high unemployment rate and cuts in social programs have contributed to decreased economic security for Michigan children.
    
The report also showed a 55 percent increase between 2005 and 2011 in children through the age of 5 who qualified for food assistance.