Annual Kids Count report offers a wide range of information on child well-being in your community

The annual Kids Count report, with loads of county-level information on child well-being, was released last week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The report focuses on four main areas: economic well-being, education, health, and family, and also looks at national trends, comparing current data with trends since the first report was released in 1990. This year's report ranks Massachusetts, Iowa and Vermont as the top states for child well-being, with Nevada, New Mexico and Mississippi the three lowest ranked states. (Annie E. Casey Foundation map)

The report has a wealth of information about child well-being, with the four main areas broken up into four sub-sets, which look at the rate of children in poverty; children whose parents lack secure employment; children living in households with a high housing cost burden; teens not in school and not working; children not attending pre-school; fourth-graders not proficient in reading; eighth-graders not proficient in math; high school students not graduating on time; low-birthweight babies, children without health insurance; children and teen deaths per 100,000; teens who abuse alcohol or drugs; children in single-parent families; children in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma; children living in high-poverty areas; and teen births per 1,000.

The report has excellent information for local stories and we recommend checking it out. To read the report click here.