Milwaukee was the 11th-poorest city in the nation in 2008, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released Tuesday.
The report showed 23.4 percent of people in Milwaukee lived in poverty in 2008. In Madison, 17.7 percent of people lived in poverty, and in Wisconsin as a whole, the poverty rate declined to 10.4 percent in 2008 from 10.8 percent in 2007.
The census estimate report examined U.S. cities with high poverty rates and populations of 250,000 or more. Detroit ranked as the poorest city in the nation, with a poverty rate of 33.3 percent in 2008. Cleveland ranked second, with 30.5 percent of the population living in poverty.
Glen Cain, UW-Madison professor emeritus of economics, said the primary reason for Milwaukee's low per-capita income is the ""tremendous"" number of manufacturing company shutdowns and the loss of other industrial jobs.
According to Cain, Milwaukee's high minority population and ""white flight"" trends have contributed to Milwaukee's steadily increasing poverty level.
""It's been gradual ... I would say particularly the lowered status of blacks has been a 20-year decline. But again, that is very much associated with the loss of relatively high-paying blue-collar jobs.""
Cain said the shutdown of breweries and diminishing construction jobs added to the rising number of layoffs in Milwaukee. He said prospects of increased government spending on food stamps and income transfer programs are bleak.
""They are really struggling to stay at their existing levels, let alone be increased,"" he said.
