“The Count” Reads KidsCount! Report, Shakes Head in Disgust
There’s an old adage that I tend to follow, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” A slight twist on that one I also use often is, “if it sounds like BS, it probably is.” Nothing could fit that second insight better than when I came across this,
between 2000 and 2006, the number of children living in poverty in Colorado increased by 73 percent – the highest increase by far of any state in the nation.
73%! Are you kidding me? Well fortunately, KidsCount in Colorado! were. Phew. That highly unlikely statement was made in this 2008 report. Health Care Policy Center director Linda Gorman felt the statement was at the least, fishy, and at most dishonest. With some digging, she uncovered the truth behind that misleading 73% statement and published an Issue Paper titled, KidsCount! Report Showcases Misleading Child Poverty Numbers.
Head over to iVoices.org to check out Linda’s podcast with policy analyst Ben Degrow where they discuss the way in which the numbers were tortured to confess things they should not have, and some of the rationale behind touting such misleading statistics.
