Once again, New Mexico ranks 50th among states for child well-being

by Leah Cantor, Santa Fe Reporter
June 17, 2019

New Mexico once again ranked last in child well-being, according to an annual report released this morning by the Annie E Casey Foundation based on data from 2017, the most recent available.

Lawmakers pushed a slew of bills through during the 2019 Legislative session addressing education inequities, and the governor signed many of them. But those efforts will take a while to be felt on the ground, experts say.

This is the second year in a row, and the third time overall, that New Mexico ranked 50th in the nation in an overall score based on individual rankings in four categories.

New Mexico flat-lined at 50th in education, 49th in economic security and 48th in health—rankings that remain consistent with last year. In the family and community domain category, we hit the bottom of the barrel, sinking from 49th last year to 50th this year. The numbers are based on factors such as the percentage of kids living bellow the poverty line and of children who are uninsured, the teen pregnancy and death rates, drug and alcohol abuse and high school graduation rates.

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