At 6:55 a.m. Tuesday, the first day of this year’s legislative session, the Albuquerque nonprofit Voices for Children released its annual report that ranks states on the well-being of their children. A troubling statistic stood out: New Mexico’s child poverty rate had fallen to worst in the nation.
"The annual Kids Count data book released today shows New Mexico with the highest childhood poverty rate in the country. The state has a long way to go in order to make improvements, and some business leaders have advice on where to start."
It’s ironic that the Legislature opened the same day that the annual Kids Count Survey released figures showing New Mexico at the bottom of the rankings when it comes to the rate of children living in poverty. The condition of the state’s children is our most pressing issue.
New Mexico is now worst in the nation in the percentage of children living in poverty, according to the Kids Count data book for 2015, which is released each year on the first day of the legislative session by the children and families advocacy organization New Mexico Voices for Children.
New Mexico has the highest rate of child poverty in the United States, according to a new study by New Mexico Voices for Children, an Albuquerque-based advocacy group.
The annual KIDS COUNT report is out this morning. There is some improvement, though it's still a grim picture for children in New Mexico. Action 7 News reporter Sasha Lenninger has more on what's in the report.
Speaking after Cole on the panel of interested stakeholders was Bill Jordan of New Mexico Voices for Children, who drew the connection between struggling businesses and families in the state. “Families do well when we have stable, good-paying jobs,” he said.
Early childhood education and care move children out of poverty “as they transition into adulthood because children in these programs have better educational, intellectual and social outcomes,” said New Mexico Voices for Children Executive Director Veronica C. Garcia.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual Kids Count report has ranked New Mexico either last or next-to-last among the 50 states in child well-being for the past three years.
While New Mexico’s poverty rate is slowly dropping, its still high enough to rank the second poorest state in the nation. And this year, the unthinkable nearly happened. As Stateline recently wrote, “New Mexico is close to overtaking Mississippi as the state with the highest percentage of its population living in poverty.”