By Rick Nathanson, Albuquerque Journal
Jan. 15, 2019
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico moved from the 49th worse state for child poverty to 48th, a slight improvement, but clearly nothing to brag about, according to the just released 2018 New Mexico Kids Count Data Book.
“Although we saw improvement in child poverty, we’re still ranked near the bottom of the nation because other states saw larger improvements,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, which produces the annual data book.
The organization released the findings of the data book during a news conference in the Capitol rotunda on Tuesday morning – the opening day for this year’s legislative session.
For comparison, New Mexico, with 27 percent of our kids age 18 and younger living at or below the federal poverty level, is tied in 48th place with Mississippi; Louisiana, with 28 percent of its kids living in poverty, was ranked 50th; New Hampshire, with 10 percent of its kids living in poverty was ranked first in the nation.
Read more in the Albuquerque Journal