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N.D. Ranks Well Nationally in Child Health and Well-being but Concern Exists

North Dakota’s overall child well-being ranks sixth in the nation, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book, which is an annual assessment of children’s well-being in the U.S.

According to North Dakota KIDS COUNT at North Dakota State University, the national data has been revamped this year with a new index that provides an even more comprehensive portrait of how U.S. children are doing in key areas. It ranks states based on 16 indicators of child well-being reflecting current child development research. The 16 indicators are organized into four domains that capture what children need most to thrive. The four are economic well-being, family and community, education and health.

North Dakota leads the nation in the growth of gross domestic product and per-capita income and has the nation’s lowest unemployment rate.

“These positive economic indicators reflect trends that are bringing prosperity to the state and many of its residents,” says Richard Rathge, North Dakota KIDS COUNT policy analyst. “However, many North Dakotans still face challenges. Our prosperity provides us a unique opportunity to make investments in our children and families that will be paid back through a lifetime of productivity and responsible citizenship.”

When compared with other states, children in North Dakota fare well in terms of indicators of economic well-being. The state has the lowest proportion of children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment and the lowest proportion of children living in households that were considered cost burdened (more than 30 percent of monthly income is spent on housing costs). North Dakota also has the third lowest proportion of teens that are not in school and not working.

However, the proportion of children living in poverty rose from 13 percent in 2005 to 16 percent in 2010. One in four children in the state is a participant of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and one in three children enrolled in North Dakota schools receives a free or reduced-price lunch.

North Dakota fares well in terms of family and community indicators. The state has the lowest proportion of children living in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma and the second lowest proportion of children living in single-parent families. North Dakota also has the 10th lowest teen birth rate. The state ranks 21st for its proportion of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods (7 percent in 2010).

“The challenge is that one in four children in the state now lives with a single parent, which is up from 9 percent in 1980,” Rathge says. “These children are much more likely to be living in poverty than children living with married parents. In addition, children living with a grandparent or other relative grew by 50 percent during the last decade.”

In terms of education, North Dakota ranks 16th overall. Two-thirds of the 3- and 4-year-olds in North Dakota do not attend nursery school or preschool (48th in the nation), and nearly two-thirds of the fourth-graders are not proficient in reading (10th best). More than half of eighth-graders lack proficiency in math (seventh best) and 13 percent of the state’s high school students do not graduate from high school within four years (third best).

Strong employment figures mean that most parents are working and are in need of good-quality child care and early education for their children. There are 82,000 children in the state who potentially need care, yet licensed child-care capacity in the state is 33,200. North Dakota is one of only 11 states where 3- and 4-year-olds have no access to state-funded preschool.

When compared with other states, North Dakota ranks 27th overall in child health. This category is where North Dakota ranks worst nationally. North Dakota ranks 40th in the child and teen death rate, 25th for the proportion of teens who use alcohol and drugs, and 17th in the proportion of uninsured children.

Approximately 37 percent of high school seniors in North Dakota reported binge drinking in 2011 (five or more drinks in a couple of hours). High rates of binge drinking continue to adulthood, with North Dakota having the fifth highest adult binge drinking rate among all 50 states.

More than one in four children in North Dakota relies on Medicaid for health care. The North Dakota children’s health insurance plan, which is for children from working families who earn too much to qualify for full Medicaid coverage but not enough to afford private insurance, has the lowest state eligibility for children in the U.S. at 160 percent of poverty.

The KIDS COUNT Data Center at http://datacenter.kidscount.org contains national, state and local data on hundreds of other measures of child well-being. The center allows users to create rankings, maps and graphs for use in publications and websites and to view real-time information on mobile devices.

The 2012 North Dakota KIDS COUNT Fact Book, which provides child well-being data for North Dakota’s 53 counties and eight planning regions, will be available in the fall of 2012.


NDSU Agriculture Communication – July 25, 2012

Source:Richard Rathge, (701) 231-8621, richard.rathge@ndsu.edu
Editor:Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.edu
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