State drops in child well-being report

A national study released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds that North Carolina dropped from 40th to 41st in the state-by-state ranking of 10 child well-being factors. The annual Kids Count study, which tracks progress over the past few years, shows the state is slipping in the following categories:

• Low birth weight babies;
• teen death rate;
• the percentage of children in poverty (this was a big jump) and;
• percentage of children in single parent homes

Nationally, three out of ten factors got worse—more children in poverty, more low birth weight babies and more children in households where the parent or parents are unemployed. The nation as a whole improved in infant and teen death rates, a lower teen birth rate and a reduction in high school dropout rates.

North Carolina, though, still ranks 40th in the nation in infant mortality according to the study.