2 days ago
Maryland ‘languishes' in middling reports for children's well-being
Maryland saw sharp improvement in its education ranking on this year's Kids Count report. A crossing guard sees students and parents across the street after school in this Aug. 14, 2024, file photo at Fort Cavazos. (Photo by Janecze Wright/Fort Cavazos Public Affairs. U.S Army)
Maryland has made strides in economic stability for families, according a new report, but drops in education and childhood health indicators have muddied the picture for child well-being in the state.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2025 Kids Count data book, the 36th version of the annual report, ranked Maryland 21st in the nation in overall child well-being, according data released Monday. While still ahead of the majority of states, Maryland only dfiniehed one place higher than last year's report, frustrating some advocates who hoped to see greater improvements.
'Maryland is consistently one of the wealthiest states in America, yet for too long, we have languished in the middle of the pack when it comes to the well-being of our children,' said Laura Weeldreyer, executive director of the Maryland Family Network. 'They are counting on us … We can make Maryland a great place to be a little kid.'
The annual Kids Count report assesses 16 metrics in four categories: economic well-being, education, health and community support. This year, the report compares data from before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to reflect how states have bounced back since the global health crisis and where they've struggled.
Maryland did best on economic well-being in this year's report, making the top 10 overall, up from 18th place just last year.
Nonso Umunna, director of the center's Kids Count initiative, attributes Maryland's gains in its economic well-being to policies such as Maryland's $15 minimum wage and tax credits for low-income familie, as those policies help families support young children.
'Maryland has always been somewhere in the middle in terms of ranking,' Umunna said. 'In the area economic quality and security, we have seen improvements.'
In 2023, Maryland had not only improved in all four metrics that the report considers for economic stability, but also performed better than the national averages in 2023.
For example, 20% of Maryland children's parents lacked secure employment in 2023. While that's still a significant proportion of kids, it's an improvement from 2019, when 24% of children's parents lacked secure employment. Meanwhile, 25% of children nationally were of families where their parents lacked secure employment in 2023.
Maryland also saw a smaller percentage of children in poverty in 2023 at 11%, down slightly from 2019 data that reported 12% of Maryland kids in poverty. Meanwhile, 16% of kids nationwide lived in poverty in 2023.
But Umunna warns progresses made in Maryland could be undone by proposals under discussion at the federal level, as President Donald Trump (R) continues reducing the federal workforce with layoffs and Congress considers major cuts to federal safety nets such as Medicaid.
Umunna also noted that those federal policies could worsen categories where Maryland is already struggling: education and health.
'There's a lot of work to be done, seeing these numbers trending in the right direction, and if we take away any of those things … we risk reversing the progress we've made,' Umunna said.
Although Maryland ranked 18th in education in this year's report, up from 22nd last year, the report found no improvements in its education indicators compared to pre-pandemic data.
National test scores released in January showed Maryland's improvement in fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math last year. However, 75% of eighth graders were not proficient in math and 66% of fourth graders didn't read at a proficient level in 2023.
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The eighth grade math proficiency reflected a national struggle to bounce back from learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report. Maryland falls behind the national average here, with 73% of eighth graders nationwide not proficient in math in 2023.
Besides making 'full investments' in the state's Blueprint for Maryland's Future education reform plan, Umunna said there should be more investment in math and technology-related education.
'These are jobs that are going to loom large in the future,' he said. 'We have to prepare students to compete in that environment to be able to compete with their colleagues nationally and internationally in that particular field.'
Health is the only category in the report where Maryland falls behind a majority of states. Kids Count ranks Maryland 28th this year. Maryland has been slipping in the rankings since the 2022 Kids Count report, when it ranked 18th in the nation for health.
The report found that there was an increase in kid and teen deaths, with 30 per 100,000 deaths occurring in 2023, compared to 24 per 100,000 in 2019. Ummuna said that the Maryland data reflects a similar trend nationwide, with some of the increase in fatalities attributed to rising firearm deaths and drug overdoses.
The Kids Count report this year says the percentage of uninsured children has increased, from about 3% in 2019 to 5% in 2023. The Maryland Department of Health did not respond to request to comment on the state's falling rank in the report.
– Maryland Matters reporter William J. Ford contributed to this report.
