How Will Recession Affect CA’s Kids? New Projections Point to Impact
Our foundation just released this concerning piece of news: More than a quarter of California’s children could be living below the stringent federal poverty level this year, according to new projections from a Duke University study that was commissioned by our foundation.
The projections suggest that as many as 2.7 million California children may live in households where earnings are less than $22,000 per year for a family of four, an increase of about 850,000 children since 2008. Research shows that, on average, families in California need to earn at least twice the federal poverty level to cover their basic expenses.
Also of concern: Even if the economy recovers in the next few years, the impact of the recession on children’s well-being will likely be lasting, as the projected percent of children living in poverty in 2012 still will be higher than before the downturn, as the table below shows:
| Region | 2008 Poverty Level | 2010 Projections | 2012 Projections |
| California | 18.5% | 27% | 24% |
| Los Angeles County | 22% | 35% | 30-32% |
| The Bay Area | 8-13% | 15-16% | 13-14% |
Posted by Andy Krackov
Tags: News About Kidsdata.org
A Decade of Improvement for CA’s Kids
There are, of course, numerous ways to measure how kids in California are doing –
you need only look at the list of individual indicators available through kidsdata.org to find hundreds of different measurements, from poverty to infant mortality to college readiness. But have you ever wondered whether the overall well-being of California’s children is improving or deteriorating? California now has a tool, the California Index of Child and Youth Well-Being, to do just this – that is, provide a measure of kids’ overall status over time. The index, which is based on 16 key indicators from kidsdata.org, shows a consistent pattern of improvement in how children have fared over the last decade, but it also warns that the present economic recession could undermine and possibly even reverse those gains. Some key results from this study:
- Child well-being from 1995 to 2006 improved by about 16% for children in
California. Results also are available for the state’s two
major population centers (the Bay Area and Los Angeles
County), both of which also registered gains in child well-being.
- Child well-being also improved for all racial/ethnic groups that could be
examined by available data (African American, Asian, Caucasian, and
Latino). However, racial/ethnic disparities persisted over time.
African American children, in particular, consistently fared worse than their
Caucasian peers during the period studied.
The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health commissioned Kenneth Land,
Ph.D., of Duke University to create the California Index of Child and Youth Well-Being.
The composite index is modeled after Dr. Land’s national Child and Youth Well-Being
Index.
Posted by Andy Krackov
Tags: Data Projects
Making a Case for Statewide School Attendance Data
A recent opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times — Why tracking chronic student absenteeism is key for California — points to a notable data gap that we’ve heard about elsewhere.
In the opinion piece, Hedy Cheng and Yolie Flores point out that California doesn’t have a systematic way to capture chronic student absences. Rates of chronic absence may be more significant than we realize – and affect children far younger than we may expect. Cheng and Flores, for example, point to a national study that estimates that as many as 1 in 10 kindergarten and first-grade students miss at least a month of school.
This issue of attendance in school was important enough for San Diego County to include these data in its report card on children’s well being, published by that county’s Children’s Initiative. According to 2007 data from that report card, about one in four kids in public schools in San Diego County missed at least 5 percent of school days (amounting to about 9 days a year).
However, collecting these data were not easy for San Diego County, requiring extensive collaboration from the county’s school districts. If this indicator is so key – the SD report card describes school attendance as “one of the strongest predictors of school success or failure” – how can we make these data easier to analyze? Fortunately, Cheng and Flores point to some possible improvements, noting that the state’s Board of Education is looking into the possibility of tapping federal sources to track school attendance.
Posted by Andy Krackov
Tags: Data Challenges
SPREAD THE WORD: Data Available for All of California!
Starting today, data on the health and well being of children across California are more accessible than ever before.
Kidsdata.org just expanded statewide! The site now offers data for all counties, cities, and school districts in California — nearly 1,600 regions. Data are available for dozens of topics measuring the health and well being of children, and much more data will be phased in over the coming months. (Visit http://www.kidsdata.org/statewide for a complete schedule.)
We hope this free public service can benefit everyone who works on behalf of children in California. To help us spread the word, you can:
- Help raise the profile of kids in your community by adding a link and facts from kidsdata.org to your organization’s website or newsletter.
- If you’re on Facebook and/or Twitter, consider tweeting or updating your status with facts you found on kidsdata.org, or the news of this expansion.
- Co-host a webinar or meeting in your community to learn more about how kidsdata.org can be used in your work. Contact Felicity Ayles, manager of marketing and online communications, at (650) 724-5778 or [email protected].
In the meantime, stay up to date on what’s happening on kidsdata.org by signing up for our newsletter.
Posted by Felicity Simmons
Tags: News About Kidsdata.org
KIDSCOUNT DataBook Ranks California 20th
According to Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2009 KIDSCOUNT DataBook, California ranks 20th in terms of how children are faring. The annual DataBook profiles the well-being of America’s children on a state-by-state basis and ranks states on 10 key measures. Accompanying the DataBook, KIDSCOUNT released an essay on the importance of making data-driven decisions regarding children. View the DataBook profile for California.
Many of the indicators noted in the DataBook also are available on kidsdata.org for your community. These include infant mortality, child deaths, teen births and poverty, among others.
Children Now, KIDSCOUNT’s California partner, offers a state analysis of the Data Book on their site.
Posted by Felicity Simmons
Tags: Data Projects
Today the Bay Area, Soon the Whole State. Kidsdata Expands!
We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be expanding kidsdata.org to all counties, cities, and school districts in California this fall! That means six categories and 42 topics and 206 indicators for 58 counties and 480 cities and 1,035 school districts and … phew! That’s a lot of data!
We’ll be rolling out the topics gradually. First to be posted will be physical health data (asthma, health care, fitness, cancer, etc.), demographics data (languages, family structure, etc.) and family economics data (housing affordability, poverty, family income, etc.) this Fall, then child safety data (child abuse, domestic violence, etc.) and disabilities data in late 2009 and early 2010. For a full schedule, check www.kidsdata.org/statewide.
And, most importantly, tell your friends! We want anyone and everyone with an interest in children’s health to know about this valuable resource and use it in their work. Want to help us spread the word about kidsdata in your community? Contact us.
Posted by Felicity Simmons
Tags: News About Kidsdata.org