N.H. ranks first for child well-being,
despite growing number of children in poverty

2005 National KIDS COUNT Data Book

July 27, 2005

Despite a 33-percent increase in the percent of children who live in poverty, New Hampshire regains its first-place ranking for child well-being in the 2005 KIDS COUNT Data Book released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This year’s KIDS COUNT book spotlights the increasing number of children in New Hampshire and nationwide who live in low-income families.

New Hampshire earned its top rank mostly on the strength of its health indicators. The Granite State has the nation's lowest child death rate, teen death rate, and teen birth rate. The state's infant mortality rate is the fourth lowest and its percentage of low-birthweight babies is fifth lowest. New Hampshire improved in all but one of those categories between 2000 and 2002.

Those improvements are partially explained by two other factors captured by KIDS COUNT, but not included in its ratings. Only 6 percent of New Hampshire’s children lack health insurance and 89 percent of our young children receive immunizations.

Despite a one-third increase from 2000 to 2003, New Hampshire also has the lowest percentage of children living in poverty, according to the KIDS COUNT book. Eight percent of children in the state lived in poverty in 2003, compared with 6 percent in 2000 and 18 percent nationally in 2003.

Ellen Shemitz, President of the Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire, says the KIDS COUNT report calls attention to the thousands of NH families who are struggling economically.

The report says that in 2003:

• 7,000 children in NH lived in households where no adult had worked in the previous 12 months
• More than one in four NH children (82,080) lived in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment
• 21,280 children lived in households where the head of the household did not finish high school.

Shemitz said the health of our children and our state depends on the economic health of all our families

“The high costs of housing and economic shifts away from steady, high-paying jobs create overwhelming obstacles for the working poor in our state,” she said. "We can support these families and their children by ensuring quality in early care and public schools, by passing a higher state minimum wage, by encouraging families to apply for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, and by creating more affordable housing."

The Children's Alliance of New Hampshire is a statewide, non-profit advocacy organization committed to raising a powerful voice to make children a priority in New Hampshire.