California Ranks 19th in KidsCOUNT Data Book
The 2010 KidsCOUNT Data Book was released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Using 10 key child health indicators, the Data Book ranks states according to how they’ve fared in those measures since 2000 — and also provides national comparisons.
This year, California ranks 19th — a slight improvement over the rank of 20 in the 2009 Data Book. Since 2000, our state has improved in nearly every area featured: infant mortality, child and teen death rates, teen birth rates, and others.
Some areas have seen significant improvements — such as a 40% decrease in the teen birth rate from 2000-2008; and a 20% decrease in the death rate for children ages 0-14.
However, there are two areas that do not show improvement — low birthweights and single-parent families. According to KidsCOUNT, nearly 7% of babies in California were born at a low birthweight — an increase since 2000, but lower than the national average of 8.2%. In 2008, 32% of California children lived in single-parent families, which is an increase of 7% since 2000, but in line with the national average. (According to kidsdata.org, family structure can be an important factor in a child’s physical health and mental health, educational attainment, and poverty status. Studies have shown that single-parent families are more likely than two-parent families to have lower incomes.)
Overall, children’s health in California is improving, according to the 2010 KidsCOUNT Data Book. Our Foundation’s Index of Child and Youth Well-Being also found that child well being improved from 1995 to 2006, but notes that the recent economic downturn threatens those gains.
- To see all the data available for California through the KidsCOUNT data center, visit http://datacenter.kidscount.org/ca.
- Visit kidsdata.org to see data for your community on low birthweight babies, and single-parent families.
Posted by Felicity Simmons
Tags: Data Projects, Data Sources
Short Term Gains, but Long Term Challenges for Federally Funded Children’s Programs
Two reports released at the recent Children’s Budget Summit paint a less-than-hopeful picture of the future of federal spending for children’s programs. The reports were produced by First Focus, a bipartisan organization advocating for children and families.
The first report, the Children’s Budget 2010, offers a guide to federal spending on children. The budget notes that spending on kids programs has increased in 2009 and 2010, largely due to dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (a.k.a. the Federal Stimulus) Even with this additional funding, spending on kids programs (ranging from health and education to child welfare and juvenile justice) remains at less than 9% of the federal budget.
A second report, Kids’ Share 2010, noted that overall spending on children’s programs has declined by 25% since 1960, and 10-year projections show a continued decline.
Despite a temporary boost from the Stimulus, children’s programs across the country face an uphill battle. Unless Congress makes children a higher priority and this increase in funding is maintained, these programs will need to cut back to pre-2009 budget levels, according to First Focus President Bruce Lesley.
How has your organization been affected by the Federal Stimulus?
Posted by Felicity Simmons
Tags: Child Health Issues
Fewer Than One in Three Students Proficient in Algebra I
Over the past four years, California has seen Algebra I proficiency increase among students in grades 7-11, but the stubborn fact remains that fewer than one in three students is considered proficient.
Research has shown that competence in mathematics is crucial for functioning in everyday life, and mastering algebra is associated with readiness for the workplace and higher future earnings.
Disparities by race/ethnicity and socioceconomic status are pronounced. Statewide, Asians are four times more likely to be proficient in Algebra I than African Americans, and three times more likely to be proficient than Hispanics.
While such gaps between different socioeconomic and ethnic groups have long existed not only in California, but nationwide, a recent report indicates that some schools are having success reducing the math achievement gap.
What kinds of strategies does your school or district use?
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: New Data, Statewide Expansion
Despite Steady Increases Statewide, Fewer than Half of CA Third Graders Proficient at Reading
One of the leading indicators of students’ academic progress and likely school success is their level of reading at the end of third grade. In California, although steady increases in reading proficiency have been seen since 2005 across all ethnic and socioeconomic groups, fewer than half of California third graders score proficient or higher on the state’s English language standardized test.
Despite increases in reading proficiency across all groups, substantial disparities remain. For instance, fewer than one in four Latino third graders read at or above the 50th percentile, the lowest of any racial/ethnic group in CA. These gaps also exist between low-income and higher-income students.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation also recently released a report, Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters, which notes that California ranks 46th in the percentage of 4th-graders who are not proficient in reading.
Children need a variety of support beginning at an early age in order to read proficiently by third grade. They must be ready to learn when they enter school, which means having access to opportunities to help them build basic cognitive, social, emotional and physical skills. Children who do not have access to such opportunities may need extra support to catch up; otherwise, they tend to fall further behind over time.
Do you see these trends in your school or district? Has your school or district found effective measures to help close these proficiency gaps?
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: New Data, Statewide Expansion
Could You Live Off of California’s Minimum Wage?
A new report from the California Budget Project brings to light an issue that has a profound effect on the health and well being of children — living off minimum wage in California may be next to impossible.
According to the report, a single parent family with two children needs an annual income of $64,239 – equivalent to an hourly wage of $30.88 for a 40-hour workweek – to provide the basics: child care, health coverage, food, rent, utilities, transportation, and other modest expenses.
Yet the minimum hourly wage of $8 per hour generates an annual income of $16,640 for a 40-hour workweek – less than half of what’s needed to get by, according to the report. The impact on child well being can be wide-ranging. Children living in poverty are more likely to go hungry, reside in overcrowded or unstable housing, be exposed to violence, and receive a poorer education. Poverty also exposes children to chronic stress, which can hinder their physical, social, and emotional development. Children in families with inadequate income may face more substantial health problems than those in families with enough to meet basic needs.
The report is worth a look. In addition to offering statewide numbers, it includes data for all counties in California.
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: Child Health Issues, Data Projects
New Feature: Add Graphs to Your Website That Update Automatically!
Just launched on kidsdata.org — a new way to share data.
You already were able to download data in to Excel, copy charts into Word or Powerpoint, and print a pdf summary of data. Now, you can add a graph to your website or blog. Simply find the data you’re interested in, customize the chart with your preferences, and click “embed” in the top right.
You can embed any map, table, or graph from kidsdata.org. The chart will update whenever data are added to kidsdata.org. Here’s an example:
Posted by Felicity Simmons
Tags: New Features, News About Kidsdata.org
Children’s Network of Solano County Uses Kidsdata.org in 2010 Report Card
To help the Solano County Board of Supervisors understand and address the needs of the county’s 108,000 children, the Children’s Network of Solano County has published a Children’s Report Card regularly over the past decade.
The 2010 edition offers a number of recommendations based on data in the report – preserving the basic infrastructure of government services provided to kids; investing more in prevention and early intervention; and involving community-based organizations and advisory councils in planning.
The report also references facts and figures from kidsdata.org numerous times, including data ranging from family economics to emotional, behavioral and physical health.
Since the beginning of the recession, Solano County families have experienced economic hardships in the form of high unemployment, widespread home foreclosures, and dwindling budgets for social programs, as the report notes. A report card helps elected officials and policymakers understand the current impact of these developments and plan for the future.
Solano County’s 2010 Children’s Report Card is a terrific example of how people working on behalf of children can use kidsdata.org. We’d like to thank the Children’s Network of Solano County for using kidsdata.org, and encourage all organizations to reference kidsdata.org in their research, reports, and grants.
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: Data Projects, News About Kidsdata.org
Learn About LA’s Communities Using the LA Times New Neighborhood Map
Ever wanted to know more about your neighbors, but were afraid to ask?
Well, the LA Times has asked about your neighbors for you — and mapped out the answers with its neighborhood mapping project.
Through a joint effort, the Los Angeles Times and its readers have mapped L.A., providing individual maps and statistics for approximately 158 cities and 114 neighborhoods within the city.
The Times’ neighborhood maps offer information regarding income, education, schools, age, population, and ethnicity, along with up-to-date news from each selected area. You can click on a region to see the neighborhoods available, and then click on any one to view a more detailed map.
As an example, the maps show considerable differences among education levels. In the San Marino neighborhood of the San Gabriel Valley, 70 percent of residents age 25 and older have a four-year college degree, while in the nearby South El Monte neighborhood, that number is a drastically lower 3 percent.
This new mapping tool may well become a valuable resource for Los Angeles-area neighborhoods. Do you know of similar projects statewide where media organizations have mapped their community?
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: Data Projects
One in Three CA High School Graduates Ready for College
New college readiness data on kidsdata.org indicate that in 2008, about one in every three high school graduates was college ready – as measured by completion of college preparatory courses required for admission to the UC and CSU systems with a grade of “C” or better.
Looking specifically at counties and how they compare to the state average, the top five counties were all in the Bay Area.
Drilling down to specific parameters such as school districts and race/ethnicity, some wide disparities appear. At the school district level, college readiness ranges from two percent in some districts to more than 75 percent in others. Ethnically, 59 percent of Asian American students are ready for college, while African American and Hispanic students are both at 23 percent.
Are these numbers surprising to you? Without knowing the data, what percentage of high school graduates would you guess to be college ready?
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: New Data
Our Melting Pot: A California Perspective on the Generational Divide Over Immigration
California, it turns out, is diverse even within its diversity, at least judging by newly available immigration data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. In Shasta, Mendocino, Tuolumne, and many other counties, the percent of residents who are foreign born is a tiny fraction of the overall population, adults or kids. But in other counties – Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara – nearly half (or more) of residents in some age groups are foreign born.
Another interesting demographic difference is the generational divide evident in a graphic from the New York Times. California is home to six of the 11 metropolitan areas nationwide that have the largest gap between the percentage of children who are white and of residents over 65 who are white: Riverside-Ontario-San Bernardino, Fresno, Bakersfield, Modesto, Stockton, and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos.
These data are compelling, given survey results that show a generational difference on opinions regarding immigration. A recent New York Times article offers insights as to why younger and older generations differ about their feelings on immigration. The article notes that baby boomers and older Americans “came of age in one of the most homogeneous moments in the country’s history.” In 1970, for example, less than 5 percent of the country was foreign born. By contrast, 13 to 15 percent of the U.S. was foreign born from 1860 through 1920. That percentage – roughly three times the figure in 1970 – is actually quite similar to breakdowns today.
Posted by Andy Krackov
Tags: Data Projects