By Roz Brown, Public News Service
June 11, 2025
A traditional marker used to measure child well-being in the U.S. shows New Mexico notched both improvements and declines in several areas.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Data Book historically shows New Mexico at or near the bottom of its report, which puts it at 50th in the nation.
Emily Wildau, senior research and policy analyst at New Mexico Voices for Children, said it is important to remember the data was collected in 2023, when kids and families were experiencing severe inflation from the pandemic.
“That doesn’t excuse that things got worse,” Wildau acknowledged. “It means we didn’t see the kinds of big, innovative policies that could have a large enough and a quick enough impact to improve child well-being, according to the set of indicators measured by Kids Count.”
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