LANSING, MI (AP)-- A report by a private foundation says the percentage of young Michigan children qualifying for federal food assistance has jumped in recent years.
The annual Kids Count in Michigan project says more than one in three qualified for nutritional help in 2012. That's up 53 percent from 2005.
Jane Zehnder-Merrell of the Michigan League for Public Policy says it shows that effects of the recession are continuing even though the economic downturn officially ended years ago.
The study documented a 34 percent rise in child poverty between 2005 and 2011, while the number of children in families investigated for possible abuse and neglect last year was highest in 22 years.
Among recommendations in the report are boosting the earned income tax credit, the minimum wage and the child care subsidy.