These Are The Best (And Worst) Places In America To Raise Kids

The Huffington Post
By Rebecca Klein
Posted: 07/22/2014       

Despite the fact that more and more children are living in poverty, the nation’s kids are generally getting better educations and leading healthier lives.

The 25th edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Book, which details the overall well-being of children in America, showed unsurprisingly mixed results in its report, released Tuesday. The report outlined trends that have taken place since 1990 and detailed how they have impacted the quality of life for young, vulnerable citizens.

The report looked at four indicators -- economic well-being, education, health and family and community -- in order to glean a ranking of the best overall states for children. Massachusetts, Vermont and Iowa ranked the highest, while Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico were once again among the lowest. A map from the report (see below) shows that states in the southern portion of the country fared worse than states farther north.
Last year, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts snagged the top three spots. New Mexico and Mississippi held the lowest spots in both 2013 and 2014.

According to the report, 3 million more children lived in poor families in 2012 than in 2005. Additionally, the number of children who had families where no parent was employed full-time, year-round also climbed nearly 3 million since 2008. The report found that about 8 percent of youth in America are neither in school nor working, although this statistic has not changed dramatically over time.

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