Utah No. 4 for childhood well-being, but there are rocky spots

Yahoo

2 days ago

Utah ranks No. 4 in the nation for child well-being, with gains in reducing poverty and youth engagement. But there are persistent challenges in housing and access to early education, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual evaluation, which is now in its 36th year.
The '2025 Kids Count Data Book' ranks the states from 1 to 50 on 16 indicators of child well-being. The report considers four factors in each of four categories: Economic well-being, education, health and family and community.
Utah came in behind New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts. New Mexico was the state with the lowest ranking.
It notes that a quarter of Utah children in 2023 (the last year for full data) lived in households that spent more than the recommended 30% of household income on housing and reports an increase in the share who have challenges finding affordable housing in the Beehive State.
Additionally, 9% of children live in poverty, which is down from 10% five years ago. But while 3,000 children who lived in poverty in 2019 no longer do, that means 88,000 still lived in poverty in 2023.
Other bad news, despite Utah's high ranking:
More Utah fourth-graders are not proficient at reading, at 64% compared to 60% in 2019.
The share of eighth-graders not on grade level in math is 65%. That's a sad number that's still better than the nation's 73% who are not proficient.
The number of Utah teens ages 16-19 not in school or working has risen to 7% — that's 16,000 teens.
On the plus side:
The poverty rate dropped from 10% to 9% for children.
The share of children in households where no parent has full-time year round employment fell to 18%.
Paying attention to how children fare is vital in Utah, said Martín C. Muñoz, Kids Count director at Voices for Utah Children, because a third of the state's residents are younger than 18. 'When we strengthen families and communities, we're securing our future, for our state and for our country.
On the education front, 57% of children ages 3 and 4 are not in school, which is the same as during the last ranking. But Utahns are faring slightly better in terms of high school students who are not graduating on time, at 12%, which is down from 13% last time and which is slightly better than the national average, which is also 13%.
The health category is a very mixed bag for Utah, where the state ranks 13th overall. The Beehive State is slightly better than the national share of 8.6% for low-birthweight babies, at 7.4%. That's been pretty consistent since 2019. But that still means 3,308 babies were born with low birthweight in Utah. And many low-birthweight babies face long-term complications in their development.
Utah continues to have 26 teen and child deaths per 100,000 each year, compared to the national average of 29 per 100,000.
The state's gotten worse, though, in terms of the number of children ages 10 to 17 who are overweight or obese. That used to be 1 in 5, but has risen to 1 in 4 in the last few years. Nationally, the overweight/obesity rate is slightly more than 3 in 10.
Fewer Utah children, however, lack health insurance, at 7%, compared to 8% in 2023. Still, that's worse than the national average of 5% of children without insurance.
Utah's No. 2 overall in the family and community category, with a stable share of children in single parent homes (19%), just 6 % in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma, and a mere 1% of children living in high-poverty areas, though nationwide 8% do. Utah teen birth numbers are also better than national numbers, at 9% compared to 13% nationally.
The report also looked at trends since 2019, noting seven of the indicators nationally have improved, six have gotten worse and three have been unchanged.
Since 2019, the nation has seen less poverty among children, fewer teen births, more children covered by health insurance and a rise in on-time school graduation.
The report also notes increases in parental education and the share of parents with secure employment.
'Some of these trends reflect years of progress,' the report says. 'Others highlight the resilience of children and families after the COVID-19 pandemic and the success of strong policies that provided support during that time.'
Nationally, the area with the worst news was in education, where three out of four indicators show decline since 2019. Those include preschool participation that hasn't returned to pre-pandemic levels, a decline in reading and math scores and the note that chronic absenteeism has become a 'major challenge.'
On the plus side, high school graduation rates have been going up.
The report notes that 'serious challenges remain, as 16% of U.S. children still live in poverty and nearly 1 in 3 children live in households struggling with high housing cost.' And the foundation adds that where a child lives 'continues to matter deeply, with stark geographic disparities shaped by local and state policies, economic conditions, community investment and infrastructure.'
The report says that's clear in the most challenged areas, which are largely in the South and Southwest: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia.
It adds that many Northeast and Midwest states rank well: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota and Vermont.
Utah gets a special call-out, the only one in the West, as the report says that 'Utah also stands out as a strong performer.'
Muñoz said that besides showing state policymakers and parents where more could be done to improve, it also highlights areas that can be emulated because of their high ranking. Policies and programs that are working can be built upon, he said.
'Utah is doing well,' he said. 'We are a success story but there are little pockets in our state that need some attention.'
What helps families, he added, is true 'trickle-down economics. When we help families, it trickles down to help the kids.'