New data shows Vermont has dropped from third to fourth - behind New Hampshire, Minnesota and Massachusetts - in a nationwide ranking of the well-being and health of children, according to the KIDS COUNT Data Book, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The project looks at 10 indicators that measure the well-being of children through all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Vermont has improved in seven of the 10 categories, ranking No. 1 in the nation for the lowest teen death rate and the percentage of children affected by foreclosure since 2007. However, the data is also trending towards more babies being born under a weight officials consider to be safe and an increase in the percentage of children living in single-parent families.
The data book has tracked the well-being of children at the national, state and local levels for the past 21 years. According to the project, the most worrisome trend for children in America is the economic decline for families in the lower half of the income distribution. The recession and the years preceding it have shown setbacks in the promising decline of child poverty seen at the end of the 1990s.
The number of children living in low-income families was at an all-time low of 39 percent in 2000. Low-income is measured by families' incomes that are double the official poverty line (in 2009, the poverty line for a two-parent, two-child family was $21,756). Since 2001, the number of low-income children in the nation climbed steadily in 2009 from 27 million to 31 million, or 42 percent.
“In this country, children born to parents in the lowest fifth of the income scale are likely (42 percent) to end up there as adults,” the report says.
Where the data comes from
The data used in the report came from a variety of places all over the country. The report's health data is from 2008 statistics; economic security data is from 2009. Death statistics have not changed from the 2010 data book, which acquired its numbers from 2007 information, because the Center for Disease Control (where the data is usually collected) did not have statistics ready in time.
According to Nicole Mace, research director and policy advocate of Voices for Vermont's Children, Vermont's number of citizens is so small that when there is a minimal change from previous years' statistics, there is a large impact on percentages. Mace is Vermont's coordinator for KIDS COUNT.
Vermont's trend from 2000 to 2009 for children living in poverty pertaining to a family of two adults and two children was at zero percent. Given the recession, Mace sees this as a positive statistic, especially when the national trend is at 18 percent.
Vermont also had an increase in the percentage of babies with birth weights below 5.5 pounds. According to the report, babies born under 5.5 pounds will have a high probability of experiencing developmental problems and short- and long-term disabilities, while being at a greater risk of dying within the first year of life.
A total of 6.1 percent of Vermont babies born in 2000 weighed less than 5.5 pounds. In 2008, the percentage increased slightly to 7 percent, while trending up. According to Mace, as well as the data book, the increase could be attributed to there being more twins, triplets and other multi-baby births, but Mace said they are looking into the birth-weight indicator in Vermont.
Mace also said Voice for Vermont's Children will be releasing its health report, “Taking the Temperature of Vermont's Children,” at the end of 2011. The report will go into much more depth on the well-being of Vermont children.
Vermont also saw an increase in children living with single parents. The 5 percent increase of children living with a single parent occurred from 2000 to 2009. The U.S. Census Bureau defines single-parent families as those families headed by an unmarried adult.
According to Mace, this is not always considered a problem for children's well-being in Vermont, since it does not always relate to the financial security of the family.
However, according to national statistics and the data book, it shows: “In 2009, 34 percent of single-parent families with related children had incomes below the poverty line, compared to 8 percent of married-couple families with children. Only about one-third of female-headed families reported receiving any child support or alimony payments in 2009.”
Problems with the federal poverty level
For 2011, the federal poverty level for a family of four is $22,350. Although the level goes up each year for inflation, the characteristics of how the level is determined have experienced some revision since the 1960s. Currently, the federal poverty measures for 30 percent of the median, whereas it was roughly 50 percent in the 1960s.
According to the data book, families making 100 to 200 percent above the poverty level still face hardships making every-day ends meet. The report suggests through its research that for a family of four to meet basic needs, it should have an income of roughly double the suggested poverty level.
The federal poverty level can only be increased by Congress, and politicians are reluctant to be seen as responsible for expanding the number of legally defined poor, but there are the sizable cost implications as well.
“I think it's a political issue,” Mace said. “Not only do people not want to be responsible for it, they also don't want to pay for it.”
The federal poverty level was originally created based primarily on food cost. If the level were raised, a great deal more American citizens would be eligible for social programs like Medicaid and food stamps.