After 24 Years, Mississippi No Longer Worst State for Kids by Judy Molland June 29, 2013 4:00 pm After 24 Years, Mississippi No Longer Worst State for Kids 412 99 5 0 175 get causes updates Good news for Mississippi! For the first time in the 24 years that the Annie E. Casey Foundation has been compiling state-by-state statistics on the well-being of children and families in its Kids Count Index, Mississippi ranked #49, not #50, overall. New Mexico took over the bottom spot. In January 2013, we reported on new state-level data on Medicaid and food-stamp enrollment released by Kaiser Health, and the numbers painted a bleak picture for child poverty in this country. Kids Count, released this week, brings more disturbing news: although there have been some gains in education and health nationally, there have been serious setbacks when it comes to the economic well-being of children. In the United States overall, a shocking 23 percent of children live in poverty, but in the bottom five states, the numbers are even worse: 50. New Mexico In New Mexico, that number rises to 31 percent. That means that 157,00 children, out of a total of around 506,450, live in extreme poverty. One reason is that 37 percent of kids in the state have parents who lack secure employment. Tragically, 79 percent of fourth graders are not proficient in reading, which is actually an improvement by one percent over the 2005 number. It seems that New Mexico has taken over from Mississippi as the worst state in the country for kids to live when it comes to a range of issues. 49. Mississippi Mississippi may no longer be the worst state to be a kid, but the numbers are still troubling. Its 32 percent of children living in poverty has worsened from 2005, when it was 31 percent, and is actually higher than Read more: care2/causes/hooray-for-mississippi-only-the-2nd-worst-state-for-kids.html#ixzz2XlpdjDPR
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 05:54:27 +0000
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