INDIANAPOLIS — The economic well-being of Hoosier children continues to worsen when compared to national averages, although education outcomes continue to show improvement, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Those and other facts are covered in the foundation's annual KIDS COUNT report that details how children across the nation are doing by looking at four specific categories to rank states: family and community, education, heal and economic well-being.
Indiana ranked 32 nationally in overall child well-being, a drop of five spots from last year's report, although Glenn Augustine, interim CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute, said the lower ranking had more to do with improvements in states such as Missouri, Montana, Oregon and New York, than significant declines here.
"In some areas children are doing well, and in other areas there's still work to be done," said Augustine.
In the area of health, for example, there were improvements across the board, the new data shows:
• The number of low-birthweight babies, at 7.9 percent is now lower than the national average. That figure was 8.3 percent in 2008.
• Children without health insurance dropped from 10 percent in 2008 to 8 percent in 2013. Augustine said that improvement could not be attributed to the Affordable Care Act.
• Child and teen deaths per 100,000 dropped 10 percent from 2008 to 30 in 2013.
• And the number of teens who abuse alcohol or drugs dropped two percentage points from 8 percent in 2007-2008, to 6 percent in 2012-13.
Indiana also ranked 25th for education, up a spot from 2014 and its best ranking to date. Math performance is up for all students overall, and the gap that exists between while and Hispanic students.
The data book found that 354,000 Hoosier children, (about one in five) live in poverty, and 12 percent of them live in high-poverty areas. that's up from 8 percent in 2008.
"It's disheartening to see this trend get worse since the height of the recession in 2008," Augustine said. "Historically, poverty lags behind other indicators in a recovery that follows a major economic downturn, and many Hoosier families are still struggling to provide basic living expenses."
While Indiana's unemployment rate has been steadily declining, he added, many of the parents who lost their jobs, but are back to work are earning significantly less than they were pre-recession.
All the rankings released today are statewide numbers. County-by-county numbers will be released next winter.
One issue that particularly alarms Sally DeVoe, executive director of the Madison County Community Foundation, is an increasing number of families who rent and move frequently.
Nevertheless, she sees bright spots on the economic development front, and increasing collaboration between schools and business to ensure students have marketable skills to offer employers.
"These are steps in the right direction," DeVoe said. "But change comes at glacial speed, not racetrack speed."