The Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2018 KIDS COUNT® Data Book opens with a special focus: the approaching 2020 census, which it warns is mired in challenges and at risk of missing at least 1 million kids under the age of 5. Such a discrepancy would put hundreds of millions of federal dollars at risk and, in doing so, underfund programs that are critical for family stability and opportunity.
With this possibility pending, the publication calls on leaders to take five critical steps to ensure that every kid is counted in 2002. These are: 1) maximizing the Census Bureau’s capacity to count young kids; 2) fully funding state and local outreach campaigns focused on the parents of young children; 3) expanding the pool of trusted messengers who can reach hard-to-count families; 4) ensuring internet access for families least likely to have it at home; and 5) addressing privacy and confidentiality concerns.
Nationally, the Data Book shows continued improvement for kids and families in the area of economic well-being. Fewer children are living in poverty, more parents are employed and fewer families are spending a disproportionate amount of their income on housing costs. Yet, across the other three domains — health, family and community, and education — results are mixed.
More locally, the Data Book’s signature state rankings reveal sharp regional patterns. In overall child well-being, five of the top 10 states are in the Northeast, with New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New Jersey claiming spots 1, 2 and 3. States in Appalachia, as well as the Southeast and Southwest — where families have the lowest levels of household income — populate the bottom of the overall rankings, with Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico coming in at 48, 49 and 50, respectively.
View the national fact sheet or download your state's fact sheet as a PDF below:
In 2016, 19% of children (14.1 million) in the United States lived in families with incomes below the poverty line. This rate fell from 22% (15.7 million) in 2010, which translates to 1.6 million fewer kids in poverty over the six-year period.
The nation’s poverty rate among African-American and American Indian children (both at 34%) was almost three times the poverty rate for their white and Asian and Pacific Islander peers (both at 12%) in 2016.
In 2016, one in three children lived in families who spend more than 30% of their income on housing, leaving less money for other necessities such as food, health care, transportation and child care.
Children who reach fourth grade without being able to read proficiently are more likely to struggle academically and eventually drop out of school. Yet, in 2017, an alarming 65% of fourth-graders in public schools nationwide were reading below proficiency.
Exiting an educational path early can have lifelong consequences. In 2016, the median annual earnings for someone without a high school diploma ($21,800) were 73% of the earnings of a high-school graduate ($30,000) and 42% of the earnings of someone with a bachelor’s degree ($51,700). Despite such data: For the 2015-2016 academic year, a disheartening 29% of students in New Mexico and 31% of students in the District of Columbia failed to graduate high school on time.
High-quality preschool programs for 3- to 4-year-olds play an important role in preparing kids for success and support higher levels of educational attainment, career advancement and earnings. Yet, from 2014-2016, more than half of all kids in this age range — 4.3 million kids total — were not in preschool.
Rates of substance abuse among teens are fairly consistent from state to state. In 2015-2016, Alaska was home to the highest rate of abuse (8%), and 23 states shared the lowest rate (4%).
Across the United States, just 4% of kids lacked health insurance coverage in 2016. Yet, two racial and ethnic groups fell far short of this rate: American Indian children (12% uninsured) and Latino children (7% uninsured).
Babies born at a low birth weight (less than 5.5 pounds) have a high probability of experiencing developmental problems and disabilities. They are also at greater risk of dying before they reach their first birthday. At the state level in 2016, low-birthweight babies were least likely to be born in Alaska (5.9% of live births) and most likely to be born in Mississippi (11.5% of live births).
Growing up in a single-parent family increases a child’s risk of growing up poor, becoming a teen parent, dropping out of school and disconnecting from the labor market. Nationwide, 35% of kids lived in single-parent families. Rates exceed the national average in states like Louisiana and Mississippi (45%) as well as the District of Columbia (56%) and Puerto Rico (61%).
In 2016, 14% of children in the United States lived in households headed by an adult without a high school diploma. Compared to peers whose parents are more academically advanced, these children face a greater risk of experiencing health problems, starting school behind and having limited educational and employment opportunities as adults.
Families in high-poverty neighborhoods — census tracts where poverty rates for the total population are 30% or more — face more health challenges, higher crime rates, subpar schools and limited access to support networks and jobs. Across the United States, living in high-poverty areas is far more common for African-American (30%) and American Indian (30%) children than it is for their white (5%) or Asian and Pacific Islander (7%) peers.
