The latest edition of the KIDS COUNT Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows improvements for child well-being over the last 30 years, but there are still areas for improvement in the nation and in Maine.
KIDS COUNT® Data Book
Overall, children are doing better today than they were 30 years ago: Of the 16 areas of child well-being tracked across four domains — health, education, family and community and economic well-being — 11 have improved since the first publication of the Data Book
in 1990.
Growth Spurt
: The nation’s child population added more than 9 million kids since 1990. Half of this came from three states: Texas, Florida and California. In Maine, the child population declined from 1990 by 18%, tying for the largest decrease with Vermont
.
Location Matters
: In terms of overall child well-being, six of the 10 top-ranked states are in the Northeast - including Maine, which saw a improvement from 16th to 9th place in one year
. States in Appalachia, the South and Southwest — where families have the lowest levels of household income — are at the bottom of the overall rankings.
Diversity Data
: Nearly half of the nation’s child population (47%) are now kids of color. At the local level, every state reported a higher proportion of non-white kids compared to three decades ago.
Maine Focus
This year marked the first time Maine has ranked in the top 10
eighth in economic well-being.
23rd in education.
fifth in family and community.
16th in health.
“In one year, Maine had the most significant reduction in child poverty in the country, bolstered in part by the minimum wage increase that went into effect in January 2017,” said Claire Berkowitz, MCA’s executive director. “Growing up in poverty is one of the greatest threats to healthy child development and so it’s very good news that our state is moving the needle in the right direction on this important indicator.”
While Maine experienced gains in economic factors,
education indicators have stagnated
“America’s children are one-quarter of our population and 100 percent of our future,” said Casey Foundation President and CEO Lisa Hamilton. “All of the 74 million kids in our increasingly diverse country have unlimited potential, and we have the data, knowledge and evidence to create the policies that will help them realize it. It’s incumbent upon us to do just that.”
