Idaho 24th In Caring For Children Study Says 9% Of Kids In Working-Poor Families
A new report ranks Idaho 24th among states and the District of Columbia in how well it cares for its children, but it says almost 9 percent of the state’s youths are growing up in working-poor families.
The 1996 “Kids Count” report, released Monday and compiled by the non-profit Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a state-by-state survey of children’s well-being.
The state rankings are based on 1993 data on such factors as low birth weight, infant mortality, child deaths, teen violence, high-school dropouts, children living in poverty and families headed by a single parent.
In that last category, Idaho ranks second-best in the nation. Only 17 percent of Idaho families were led by a single parent; the national rate was 26 percent.
But the “Kids Count” survey also found that 8.9 percent of all Idaho children lived in working-poor families in 1993, with at least one parent working 50 or more weeks a year. The national rate was 7.6 percent.
“In many ways, Idaho is a wonderful place for children to grow up. Our literacy rate is high and our crime rate is low,” Gov. Phil Batt said. “Still, we should be concerned about the growing number of Idaho students who drop out of school before graduation. Between 1985 and 1993, the percentage of Idaho teens dropping out of school increased 9 percent.”
That put Idaho’s dropout rate for youths 16 through 19 years old at 12 percent, up from 11 percent in 1985 and ranking Idaho 45th in the nation. The national rate in 1993 was 9 percent and had dropped 2 percentage points since 1985.
Batt said a law he signed this year should help. It requires teens to stay in school to get an Idaho driver’s license.
“Some have said this law is too harsh, but we need to give kids a strong incentive to stay in school and get an education and the skills necessary to compete in today’s world,” the governor said.
16th in juvenile violent-crime arrest rate. The survey found 292 of every 100,000 Idaho youths 10 through 17 years old were arrested for violent crimes in 1993.
The national rate was 506 arrests per 100,000 youths.
17th in teen birth rate. The report said 29 of every 1,000 girls ages 15 through 17 gave birth in 1993, up from 24 of every 1,000 in 1985.
The national rate was 38 of every 1,000 in 1993, up from 31 of every 1,000 in 1985.
xxxx IDAHO RANKINGS 5th in percentage of low birth-weight babies at 5.3 percent, down from 5.5 percent in 1985. The national average in 1993 was 7.2 percent, up from 6.8 percent in 1985. 11th in infant mortality rate. The number of deaths per 1,000 live births in Idaho dropped from 10.4 in 1985 to 7.2 in 1993. The national rate fell from 10.6 percent to 8.4 percent. 25th in the percentage of children living in poverty, down from 21 percent in 1985 to 18 percent in 1993. The national rate remained unchanged at 21 percent.