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.
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.”
Now is the time to reclaim our commitment to our children – enough is enough. It’s time we start re-prioritizing the issues we focus on at the Legislature. Our top priority must be our children – not wedge issues used as political fodder for the next election.
Veronica Garcia, director of the advocacy group New Mexico Voices for Children, said the state’s poverty rate is cause for concern because it affects children in many negative ways. To break the cycle of poverty, she said, the state should invest more money in programs focusing on early childhood, usually defined as prenatal to age 5. Many advocates for early education say it helps prepare children for success in school, leads to more high school and college graduates, and reduces prison populations.
"Aren't we tired of hearing these low numbers? Yes, we are. But we can't get hopeless about it," said Veronica Garcia with child advocacy group New Mexico Voices for Children. Garcia has seen the reports year after year. This year's Kids Count report ranks New Mexico only ahead of Mississippi for child well-being. Since last year, graduation rates improved and there are fewer teens doing drugs and drinking alcohol. But other factors, not so much.
The book went on to say that a lot of New Mexico kids and teens live in unemployed or single-parent homes. New Mexico Voices for Children told Action 7 News the two factors that bothered them the most were that a tremendous amount of kids and teens live in poverty and are uninsured. "That's of grave concern," Dr. Veronica Garcia, NM Voices for Children, said.