Report downgrades Florida on child well-being
Children are pictured in a classroom after Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced a new primary school and more classrooms for existing schools in Auckland schools at Waterview Primary School on July 4, 2018 in Auckland, New Zealand.
TALLAHASSEE (NSF) - Florida ranks 37th in the country in child well-being and is “not moving in the right direction,” according to a report released Monday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The foundation each year releases a report that ranks states on a series of indicators about child well-being. The report released Monday was based on 2017 data.
Florida ranked 34th in the country in a report released last year. The new report, for example, showed Florida ranked 40th in health care, with poor marks in areas such as the percentage of low birth-weight babies and teen and child deaths.
Florida also ranked 45th in economic well-being. It did best in education, where it ranked 24th.
“Florida is now home to 1,213,176 more children than it had in 1990, and population projections show the number will increase by an additional 1.1 million by 2045,” the foundation said. “This continuous growth in the youth population will demand greater investments in state resources for children to have what they need to lead healthy, successful lives.”