2006 Kids Count Data Book
Study: State lags in care for youth
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/28/06
Georgia slipped to among the worst states in the country in caring for children, according to a national report released Tuesday.
The state fell from 39th place to 44th in the 2006 Kids Count Data Book, an annual report by the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation. The state performed particularly poorly in terms of infant mortality, low birth-weight babies and child poverty.
The study is based on 2003 and 2004 information, the latest available for a nationwide comparison.
"Children continue to be born at unhealthy weights, to live in poverty, struggle in school and live in families that often do not have secure employment," said Gaye Morris Smith, executive director of the Family Connection Partnership, the Georgia nonprofit that collects information for the national report.
Georgia showed slight improvement in six of the 10 major indicators in the study, including teen births, high school dropouts, child and teen death rates, teens not attending school and not working, and children in single-parent families. But those improvements often lagged behind the advances of many other states, the report said.
Poverty contributes to several of the major problems for children, the report said. Some 21 percent of Georgia children lived in poverty in 2004, up from 19 percent in 2003.
In addition, 35 percent of Georgia children lived in households in which no parent had a full-time, year-round job in 2004, up 3 percentage points from the year 2000.
Poor and black children continue to face problems in several areas, the report said. For example, 9 percent of Georgia babies are born at less than 5 1/2 pounds, ranking the state 41st in the nation. But the rate for black children, some 14 percent, is double that for white children, the report said.
"Mothers are not getting the prenatal care they need to have healthy babies and pregnancies," said Taifa Butler, spokeswoman for Family Connection Partnership.
Infant mortality remains a persistent problem in Georgia, the report said. A total of 1,179 infants died in 2004, according to state health figures. The state's infant mortality rate is 8.5 deaths per 1,000. The rate for black children is 14 per 1,000. The national rate is 6.9 per thousand, the report said.
The report noted that while the teen birth rate is higher among Hispanic mothers, the infant mortality rate is lower among that population than either whites or blacks. The rate of low birth weight is also lower among Hispanics, the report said. Butler speculated that the answer may be linked to the strong sense of family among Hispanics.
This year, New Hampshire scored the best on the annual report. Mississippi brought up the rear. Georgia has consistently scored among the 10 worst states in the nation during the 17 years of the study.
SOURCE
Data for Georgia at AEC website.
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