NM KIDS COUNT Data Book New Mexico is at a crossroads. At the federal level we're seeing unpredictability in how child-serving programs are funded and at the state level we're poised to elect a new governor. This annual publication reports the latest data on child well-being in New Mexico to help us choose the path forward. (State-, county-, tribal-, and school district-level data on indicators of child well-being)
Fact Sheet While the U.S. will have a minority-majority child population within a few years, New Mexico is way ahead of the curve, with 76 percent of our kids being children of color. Unfortunately, disparities exist for our kids along racial and ethnic lines. This fact sheet shows how New Mexico scores on the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Race for Results Index. (A KIDS COUNT fact sheet; state-level data on indicators of child well-being by race and ethnicity)
Policy Brief For more than four decades, governments have used harsh criminal punishments as the primary tool to address the possession, use, and sales of illegal substances. Complex laws and regulations have been created to penalize drug use and the possession of controlled substances. These drug laws have resulted in disparate impacts for people of color. (Bernalillo County data on incarceration rates by race and ethnicity)
Resources A budget impasse? A tax overhaul? Veto overrides? Many complex issues will be discussed and resolved in a very short amount of time during the special legislative session beginning May 24, 2017. We've gathered together and posted here numerous resources to help you makes sense of it all. (Various data from child well-being to tax incidence by income, and more.)
Presentation Looking at how Black children fare in New Mexico, this presentation includes findings from the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Race for Results report, which shows that New Mexico's Black children fare better than Black kids across the nation in many indicators. (State-level data on indicators of child well-being by race and ethnicity)
Fact Sheet Having a parent incarcerated is a traumatic experience that can be along the same magnitude as abuse, domestic violence, and divorce. It also often adds to the generational pull of poverty. This fact sheet, created for the release of the national KIDS COUNT report A Shared Sentence includes New Mexico-specific data. (State-level data on incarceration)
Report Many low-wage occupations do not come with benefits like paid sick leave. So workers who are already earning low wages have to forfeit those wages in order to stay at home to tend a sick child or care for themselves. The U.S. has no national policy, so states and cities are taking up the issue. With the lowest rate in the nation of workers with paid sick leave, New Mexico has much to gain by enacting such legislation. (State-, national-, and international-level data on sick leave policies, some by race and ethnicity)
NM KIDS COUNT Data Book While child poverty is down slightly, New Mexico now leads the nation with the highest rate of child poverty. This annual KIDS COUNT report on child well-being presents data by county, tribal area, and school district on indicators such as the rates of health care coverage among children, preschool enrollment, child abuse, and teen births. It also tracks trends on some of these important indicators and looks at disparities across racial and ethnic lines. (State-, county-, tribal-, and school-district-level data on indicators of child well-being, some by race and ethnicity)
Policy Brief New Mexico is a poor state with high rates of food insecurity and with too many adults and children suffering from nutrition-related chronic conditions. Programs that incentivize consumption of locally grown, fresh produce to food-insecure individuals offer both health benefits to low-income communities as well as economic benefits to local farmers. (State-level data on economic well-being and health disparities by race and ethnicity)
Report Raising the minimum wage is an important and effective strategy for reducing poverty particularly given the erosion of the purchasing power of the state wage since it was last raised in 2009. In New Mexico, approximately 112,000 workers are earning the current state minimum wage of $7.50. In January, New Mexico lawmakers should act to raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2018. While this increase should not be considered a living wage, thousands of families would benefit. (State-level data on characteristics of minimum wage earners, including by race and ethnicity)