New Jersey remains one of the best states in the nation to raise and educate children, according to the latest Kids Count survey to be released today. The annual report found New Jersey ranked fifth highest for child health and well-being, which measures factors ranging from infant mortality and teen deaths to the percentage of teens in high school...
View full sizeAn annual Kids Count report ranks New Jersey as one of the best places to raise and educate children. Children in this photo were having fun during an exercise program held at the Valley View Elementary School in Montville in May.New Jersey remains one of the best states in the nation to raise and educate children, according to the latest Kids Count survey to be released today.
The annual report found New Jersey ranked fifth highest for child health and well-being, which measures factors ranging from infant mortality and teen deaths to the percentage of teens in high school and children living in poverty.
That's an improvement from the survey released last year, which placed New Jersey seventh. New Hampshire ranked highest, while Mississippi came in last.
But the report, by the Baltimore-based Annie Casey Foundation, showed the recession hurt children in New Jersey and across the nation.
The report found 4 percent of kids have been affected by foreclosure since 2007, both nationally and in New Jersey. In 2009, a quarter of the children in New Jersey — and nearly a third across the nation — lived in a household where neither parent had full-time, year-long employment.
"The recent recession has wiped out many of the economic gains for children that occurred in the late 1990s," said Laura Speer, an associate director at the Casey Foundation. "The number of children who were affected by foreclosure in the United States is also very troubling."
View full sizeNew Jersey ranks among the best places in America to raise kids, according to a report being released today. In this photo, a Bound Brook boy pets a 2-year-old Yorkshire Terrier during a dog walk and family fun day in Colonial Park in Franklin Township, Somerset County, on May 1..The number of children living in poverty is also on the rise. According to the report, 13 percent of New Jersey children lived in poverty in 2009, up from 10 percent in 2000. Across the country, 20 percent of children lived in poverty in 2009, compared to 17 percent in 2000.
New Jersey saw improvements in several areas. The rates for infant mortality, deaths among teenagers and teen births all dropped. The state had the best rate in the nation in keeping high school-age teens in school.
"As usual, there’s good news and bad news for New Jersey," said Cecilia Zalkind, executive director of Advocates for Children of New Jersey. "If you look at where we’ve improved, it’s in the health area. As a state, we have focused a great deal on ensuring health care for kids."
But Zalkind said the percentage of children living in poverty and the number of kids affected by foreclosure are both concerning. For a family of two adults and two children in 2009, the poverty threshold was income below $21,756.
"Families with incomes above that struggle in New Jersey," Zalkind said. "This is a very expensive state in which to live."
She said restoring the earned income tax credit, cut in Gov. Chris Christie’s first budget and not funded again this year, could help alleviate the financial pressure on struggling families.
The Casey Foundation issued several recommendations based on the report, including expanding prenatal care for expecting mothers, strengthening unemployment insurance and promoting foreclosure prevention efforts.
Officials at the foundation said they recognize the fiscal strain on state and national lawmakers.
"Given the dollars that we have, we need to be spending smarter," said Patrick McCarthy, president of the Casey Foundation. "We need to be spending more money on things that work and we need to shift money away from things that have demonstrated to not be effective."