23% of Ohio children living in poverty

North Carolina ranks 35th in the country for children’s overall well-being, a measure that includes rankings for education, economic well-being, health and family and community.

And while the number of children not attending preschool jumped to 54 percent, there were signs of slight improvement, including high school graduation rates at an all-time high and a dipping percentage of uninsured children.

Led by a private philanthropy group, The Annie E. Casey Foundation report analyzes factors related to children’s well-being. The report states that number represents more than one in every four, or 27 percent, of the state’s entire child population and 38 percent of children are living in families where no parent has full-time employment. The number of children in families where no parent has full-time employment also is up, from 31 percent to 33 percent.

The study from the Annie E. Casey Foundation showed poverty rates among all children have grown since 2008, when the rate was 18%; the rate increased to 22% by 2013.

Disparities were also chalked up to race, where African American children were twice as likely to live in high-poverty areas and to live in single-parent homes compared to white children.

Children’s Trust Chief Executive Officer Sue Williams says access to health care and substance abuse prevention are paying off. “At the shelter, here, we have a lot of children who have been in their third or fourth housing situation in the previous year“, Porter adds. Other criteria for child well-being have shown an increase in recent years.

“That really means that during the period of economic recovery, many millions of childrens and families got left behind and there’s still a long way to go”, says Speer.

The latest “Kids Count” report came out Tuesday, and while New Jersey shines in educating its kids and keeping them healthy, unemployment still looms over many of their families.

The top five states in the survey were Minnesota, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Iowa and Vermont.

Zalkind said one goal is to see high quality pre-school expanded in New Jersey, but that has not been funded since the law mandating pre-school was passed in 2008. The foundation works to improve the lives of children at risk for poor educational, economic, social and health outcomes, according to its website.