Story cites figures from the University of Wisconsin?s Institute for Research on Poverty that show the poverty rate would be about double what it is now without government programs such as Social Security, SSI, food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit and other programs. The UW figures show a 23.8% Wisconsin poverty rate in 2009 if you don?t count those programs, 11.5% if you do. (These figures are the UW group?s version of the poverty rate – a measure that is undergoing revisions nationally.)
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