Minnesota ranked 2nd in child welfare

Minnesota trails only New Hampshire in child welfare, according to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The state’s score in the KIDS COUNT Data Book is based on ten factors affecting children, from infant mortality and birth rate to teenage pregnancy and poverty levels.

The report’s online data center shows that the number of children living in poverty in Minnesota has decreased. In 2008, more than 141,000 children lived in poverty, or 11.4 percent of all state children; that’s down more than 7,000 children compared to the year before. But the same timespan saw a jump in the number of kids getting reduced-priced school lunch, food assistance and food-shelf service.

The study noted “regional overtones,” since Minnesota is joined by Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska in the top 10. But while the upper midwest scored well, the national trend is less heartening. Child welfare has “stagnated” between 2000 and 2008, and the survey results — which are drawn from the 2008 American Community Survey — don’t reflect the current economic recession.

Read the KIDS COUNT report:

2010DataBook