Kids Count — Or Do They?

The annual Kids Count report, which measures the well-being of America’s children, has been released…and it doesn’t contain good news for the “Mid South”. Tennessee dropped 3 slots to rank 46th among the 50 states.  Arkansas did slightly better, ranking 45th, but Mississippi’s remains in last place for the 2nd year in a row.  The criteria for the rankings include death rates in children, the number of high-school dropouts, children in poverty and children in single-parent families.  Here’s the breakdown of the Best and Worst:

Children in poverty
Best: Connecticut and New Hampshire, 10%
Worst: Mississippi, 31%

Teen birth rate (births per 100,000)
Best: New Hampshire, 18.
Worst: Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas, 63.

Children in single-parent families
Best: Utah, 17%
Worst: Louisiana, 44%

High-school dropouts (percent of teens 16 to 19)
Best: Iowa and North Dakota, 3 percent.
Worst: Indiana, 13 percent.

Teens ages 16 to 19 not working or in school
Best: New Hampshire and North Dakota, 4 percent.
Worst: Louisiana, 13 percent.

Children with parents who are not working full-time, year-round
Best: Nebraska, 24 percent.
Worst: Alaska and Louisiana, 40 percent.

Infant mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 births)
Best: New Hampshire, 4.
Worst: Mississippi, 10.7.

Child death rate (deaths per 100,000 children ages 1 to 14)
Best: New Hampshire, 12.
Worst: Alaska, 38.

Teen death rate (deaths per 100,000 teens ages 15 to 19)
Best: Connecticut, 40.
Worst: Alaska, 105.

Low birth weight babies
Best: Alaska and Washington, 6 percent.
Worst: Mississippi, 11.4 percent.