The 2013 KIDS COUNT Data Book provides a detailed picture of how children are faring in the United States. In addition to ranking states on overall child well-being, the Data Book ranks states in four domains: Economic Well-Being, Education, Health, and Family and Community. This year’s Data Book presents recent trends, generally comparing data from 2005 with data from 2011, which are often the most recent available. The national trend data compares how the country’s children were faring mid-decade, prior to the economic crisis, with how they are doing in its aftermath. State rankings focus only on the most recent data. The report examines data on topics such as child poverty rates, children not attending pre-school, children without health insurance, children in single-parent families, and more. The report offers an analysis of these data, across the dimensions of race and geographic region, as well as through state-to-state comparisons. The report also includes a guide for using the Kids Count Data Center website to search for relevant data.
Overall, the report finds that there have been modest but hopeful signs of recovery and improvement for children and families in the US. However, the report indicates that the gap between children growing up in strong, economically secure families who are embedded in thriving communities and children who are not continues to widen, especially as African-American and Latino children continue to fall disproportionately into the latter group. The report concludes with a brief statement highlighting the need for early intervention and smart investment in programs that support children and families promote wellbeing across the four domains. The full report and individual state profiles are available for download on the Kids Count website at the following the link: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/publications/databook/2013
©Annie E. Casey Foundation
