Our children's well-being.

More kids are finishing high school. The teen birth rate is dropping. And fewer children live in single-parent households. That's good news.

But 4 million children--an increase of more than 1 million since 2000--live with parents who face persistent unemployment and poverty. More babies are being born at low birth weights and infant mortality and teen death rates are up. These are among the findings of the latest Kids Count Data Book released in 2005 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The book, in its 16th year, tracks the well-being of children and families in all 50 states and Puerto Rico using federal government statistics. This is the best state-level data available for tracking yearly changes in the categories studied, but some are derived from samples and may contain some random error. For more information, go to www.kidscount.org.

WHERE THE DIFFERENCES ARE

The size of the gap between black and non-Hispanic white children
varies by indicator, but the outcomes for black children are worse
on every one of the 10 measurements. The same is true for American
Indian and Alaskan Native children when compared b non-Hispanic
whites.

                                                     Non-Hispanic
                                             Total      White

Percent low-birth weight babies       2002   7.8%        6.9%
Infant mortality rate                 2002   7.0         5.8
  (deaths per 1,000 live births)
Child death rate (deaths per          2002    21          19
  100,000 children ages 1-14)
Teen death rate (deaths per 100,000   2002    68          66
  teens ages 15-19)
Teen birth rate (births per 1,000     2002    43          29
  females ages 15-19)
Percent of teens who are high         2003     8           6
  school dropouts (ages 16-19) *
Percent of teens not attending        2003     9           7
  school and not working
  (ages 16-19) *
Percent of children living in         2003    33          26
  families where no parent has
  full-time, year-round
  employment *
Percent of children in poverty *      2003    18          10
Percent of children in                2003    30          22
  single-parent households *

                                      Black/African
                                        American      Hispanic/Latino

Percent low-birth weight babies           13.3%            6.5%
Infant mortality rate                     13.8             5.6
  (deaths per 1,000 live births)
Child death rate (deaths per               31               20
  100,000 children ages 1-14)
Teen death rate (deaths per 100,000        82               65
  teens ages 15-19)
Teen birth rate (births per 1,000          67               83
  females ages 15-19)
Percent of teens who are high               8               15
  school dropouts (ages 16-19) *
Percent of teens not attending             12               13
  school and not working
  (ages 16-19) *
Percent of children living in              50               38
  families where no parent has
  full-time, year-round
  employment *
Percent of children in poverty *           34               28
Percent of children in                     62               34
  single-parent households *

                                      Asian and   American Indian
                                       Pacific      and Alaskan
                                      Islander        Native

Percent low-birth weight babies         7.8%           7.2%
Infant mortality rate                   4.8            8.6
  (deaths per 1,000 live births)
Child death rate (deaths per             16             28
  100,000 children ages 1-14)
Teen death rate (deaths per 100,000      37             91
  teens ages 15-19)
Teen birth rate (births per 1,000        18             54
  females ages 15-19)
Percent of teens who are high             3             11
  school dropouts (ages 16-19) *
Percent of teens not attending            5             13
  school and not working
  (ages 16-19) *
Percent of children living in            31             51
  families where no parent has
  full-time, year-round
  employment *
Percent of children in poverty *         13             32
Percent of children in                   16            45 *
  single-parent households *

* For this measure, the data for non-Hispanic whites, black/African
Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians and
Alaskan Natives are for persons who selected only one race.

Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation www.kidscount.org.