23 percent of Ohio children living in poverty

Michigan ranks 33rd in economic well-being; 29th in family and community, 23rd in health and 37th in education – a ranking brought down, in part, by a drop in preschool and fourth-grade reading proficiency, Guevara Warren said.

The report, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, defines children in poverty as those under the age of 18, living in families with annual incomes below $23,624.

Led by a private philanthropy group, The Annie E. Casey Foundation report analyzes factors related to children’s well-being.

Recasner says the percent of kids living in high-poverty areas increased to 19 percent between 2009-2013, which is up from 17 percent between 2006-2010.

“This should be a time of growing prosperity for Kansas children and families, but instead we are mostly stagnant”, said Shannon Cotsoradis, president and CEO, Kansas Action for Children. While the focus is on the well being of children, the foundation said parents also need access to higher education, which will help land a higher paying job.

The biggest improvements in overall rankings compared to last year’s Data Book are seen in Alaska, Minnesota, Wyoming, South Carolina and Missouri.

Nearly 40 percent of African-American children live in poverty, the report found, echoing findings released by the Pew Research Center this month. In 2000, 9% of children lived in census tracts where the total population’s poverty rate rose to at least 30%.

Some 330,000 children now live in poverty, up since 2008. The state ranked 31st previous year and 28th in the 2013 report. According to the report, problems are most severe across the southwestern and southern states, while states in New England and the Midwest (particularly between Wisconsin and Utah) generally occupy the top 10 spots in the ranking.

New Hampshire Kids Count Executive Director Ellen Fineberg says that’s cause for concern. Twelve percent of teens from Mississippi and Louisiana were neither in school nor working. Children without health insurance in the state remained steady at seven percent.

“Although we are several years past the end of the recession, millions of families still have not benefited from the economic recovery,” he said.