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Wisconsin Excels at Caring for Kids; Annual Kids Count Report Examines Well-Being of State's Children
By: Sandra Kallio
From: Wisconsin State Journal
Date: 5/22/2001
Wisconsin takes better care of children than most other states, ranking fifth in the Casey Foundation's Kids Count analysis released today. The 12th annual report examines the educational, social, economic and physical well-being of children and teens using 1998 data.
"That's very good," said Anne Arnesen, referring to the ranking. Executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, she advocates more support for working poor families and children living in extreme poverty. "Why can't we take care of the things that need to be addressed?"
Dropping from fourth place to fifth doesn't mean the state is slipping in care for children, said Martha Cranley, a council employee and the Kids Count coordinator for Wisconsin. "It looks like other states got better, not necessarily that we got worse," she said.
The top four states, in order, are New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah and Massachusetts.
Wisconsin improved on six indicators from 1990 to 1998: infant mortality, child death rate, teen deaths and birth rates, percent of children living with fully employed parents, and children living in poverty.
The state worsened on four indicators: single-parent families, low birth weight, teen dropouts and teens not attending school and not working.
The percent of families with children headed by a single parent increased in 45 other states, too. The percent has risen steadily over the past few decades but may level off because the divorce rate has been falling for more than a decade and the percent of births to unmarried women has almost stabilized in the past five years, according to the Kids Count report. An increase in multiple births explains part of the increase in low birth-weight babies. But the increase in twins and triplets does not explain racial differences presented in the report: In 1998, 6.6 percent of births to whites were of low birth weight, compared to 13.2 percent of births to blacks, 6.4 percent of births to Hispanics, 7.4 percent of births to Asians and Pacific Islanders and 6.8 percent of births to Native Americans. The Kids Count report suggests that access to health insurance and medical care may explain some differences.
The biggest negative changes are in the two teen indicators. But Wisconsin's worst failings would be huge successes for most other states. Wisconsin ranks best for its low drop out rate and third best for the low percent of teens out of school and not working. Although the dropout rate is low for Wisconsin overall, graduation rates for minorities tell a different story: 54.5 percent for blacks, 69.5 percent for Hispanics, 77.8 percent for American Indians and 90.8 percent for Asians, compared with 93.6 percent for whites, according to a state Department of Public Instruction report of 1998-99 data. And, while Wisconsin overall improved on the teen birth indicator, a Right Start study released earlier this year highlighted Milwaukee, which had the sixth-highest teen-age birth rate among the country's 50 largest cities in 1998.
Wisconsin's improvement in the rate of child poverty also looks good on paper, until the reading glasses focus on statistics about children of color. "We have the highest child poverty rate for minority kids in the country," Arnesen said. "It is the highest for African-American children 6 and under and the second-highest for all African-American kids. We were also the highest for all Southeast-Asian kids."
Arnesen also pointed out that the percent of children living in extreme poverty increased from 3 percent to 5 percent in Wisconsin from 1997 to 1998, according to Kids Count data. That categorization refers to families with incomes below 50 percent of the U.S. poverty threshold. In 1998, extreme poverty for a family of two adults and two children meant an income below $8,265. While these parents may get help with food for their families through pantries and community meal programs, competition for housing assistance leaves many out in the cold. In Milwaukee County, the demand for homeless shelter beds increased from 6,166 in 1998 to 11,571 in 2000, according to a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story published Sunday. That story also described the impact on children: 4,797 children filled shelter beds in 1998 and 7,063 filled shelter beds in 2000.
"The state has done a lot of impressive work around child care and health care for working families, but it's work that needs to be extended," said Laura Dresser, research director with the UW-Madison Center on Wisconsin Strategy. Plugging a parent into a low-paying job isn't enough, according to Cranley: "We need employment and training for that parent, so they can become the manager of McDonald's instead of the counter worker." If Cranley and Arnesen were ordering a Happy Family Meal from policy-makers, they would super-size the following supports:
* Education and training for better-paying jobs.
* Transportation assistance.
* Housing assistance.
* Connections of eligible families to Medicaid programs including BadgerCare, a health insurance program for working families not covered by their jobs.
* Interventions to make communities safe, such as access to drug and alcohol treatment for parents.
* Educational programs such as Student Achievement Guarantee in Education, which allows for smaller classes in early elementary grades.
* Child-care subsidies.
"Child care is a huge issue," Arnesen said.
The high cost of child care and low pay of child-care workers can be a double-whammy for working-poor families. Low-income families spend an average of 16 percent of their income on child care, according to a report by the Urban Institute of Washington, D.C. Even when child care is subsidized, families often pay a portion of the cost.
"A number of people who are off W-2's (Wisconsin Works) cash assistance program have gotten into jobs working as child care staff, but they're being paid abysmal wages," Arnesen said. In Dane County in 2000, the average hourly pay was $7.47 for an assistant child care teacher, according to Community Coordinated Child Care. That agency also keeps track of child care fees. The most recent survey, for March 2001, shows an average hourly fee of $4 for infants and toddlers for in-home care.
When a parent is in a low-paying job, he or she may feel forced to work multiple jobs. "We're saying take care of these kids, and at the same time we're saying work two jobs and they can never see their kids. I think we're really doing a disservice to the kids," Arnesen said.
"That's very good," said Anne Arnesen, referring to the ranking. Executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, she advocates more support for working poor families and children living in extreme poverty. "Why can't we take care of the things that need to be addressed?"
Dropping from fourth place to fifth doesn't mean the state is slipping in care for children, said Martha Cranley, a council employee and the Kids Count coordinator for Wisconsin. "It looks like other states got better, not necessarily that we got worse," she said.
The top four states, in order, are New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah and Massachusetts.
Wisconsin improved on six indicators from 1990 to 1998: infant mortality, child death rate, teen deaths and birth rates, percent of children living with fully employed parents, and children living in poverty.
The state worsened on four indicators: single-parent families, low birth weight, teen dropouts and teens not attending school and not working.
The percent of families with children headed by a single parent increased in 45 other states, too. The percent has risen steadily over the past few decades but may level off because the divorce rate has been falling for more than a decade and the percent of births to unmarried women has almost stabilized in the past five years, according to the Kids Count report. An increase in multiple births explains part of the increase in low birth-weight babies. But the increase in twins and triplets does not explain racial differences presented in the report: In 1998, 6.6 percent of births to whites were of low birth weight, compared to 13.2 percent of births to blacks, 6.4 percent of births to Hispanics, 7.4 percent of births to Asians and Pacific Islanders and 6.8 percent of births to Native Americans. The Kids Count report suggests that access to health insurance and medical care may explain some differences.
The biggest negative changes are in the two teen indicators. But Wisconsin's worst failings would be huge successes for most other states. Wisconsin ranks best for its low drop out rate and third best for the low percent of teens out of school and not working. Although the dropout rate is low for Wisconsin overall, graduation rates for minorities tell a different story: 54.5 percent for blacks, 69.5 percent for Hispanics, 77.8 percent for American Indians and 90.8 percent for Asians, compared with 93.6 percent for whites, according to a state Department of Public Instruction report of 1998-99 data. And, while Wisconsin overall improved on the teen birth indicator, a Right Start study released earlier this year highlighted Milwaukee, which had the sixth-highest teen-age birth rate among the country's 50 largest cities in 1998.
Wisconsin's improvement in the rate of child poverty also looks good on paper, until the reading glasses focus on statistics about children of color. "We have the highest child poverty rate for minority kids in the country," Arnesen said. "It is the highest for African-American children 6 and under and the second-highest for all African-American kids. We were also the highest for all Southeast-Asian kids."
Arnesen also pointed out that the percent of children living in extreme poverty increased from 3 percent to 5 percent in Wisconsin from 1997 to 1998, according to Kids Count data. That categorization refers to families with incomes below 50 percent of the U.S. poverty threshold. In 1998, extreme poverty for a family of two adults and two children meant an income below $8,265. While these parents may get help with food for their families through pantries and community meal programs, competition for housing assistance leaves many out in the cold. In Milwaukee County, the demand for homeless shelter beds increased from 6,166 in 1998 to 11,571 in 2000, according to a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story published Sunday. That story also described the impact on children: 4,797 children filled shelter beds in 1998 and 7,063 filled shelter beds in 2000.
"The state has done a lot of impressive work around child care and health care for working families, but it's work that needs to be extended," said Laura Dresser, research director with the UW-Madison Center on Wisconsin Strategy. Plugging a parent into a low-paying job isn't enough, according to Cranley: "We need employment and training for that parent, so they can become the manager of McDonald's instead of the counter worker." If Cranley and Arnesen were ordering a Happy Family Meal from policy-makers, they would super-size the following supports:
* Education and training for better-paying jobs.
* Transportation assistance.
* Housing assistance.
* Connections of eligible families to Medicaid programs including BadgerCare, a health insurance program for working families not covered by their jobs.
* Interventions to make communities safe, such as access to drug and alcohol treatment for parents.
* Educational programs such as Student Achievement Guarantee in Education, which allows for smaller classes in early elementary grades.
* Child-care subsidies.
"Child care is a huge issue," Arnesen said.
The high cost of child care and low pay of child-care workers can be a double-whammy for working-poor families. Low-income families spend an average of 16 percent of their income on child care, according to a report by the Urban Institute of Washington, D.C. Even when child care is subsidized, families often pay a portion of the cost.
"A number of people who are off W-2's (Wisconsin Works) cash assistance program have gotten into jobs working as child care staff, but they're being paid abysmal wages," Arnesen said. In Dane County in 2000, the average hourly pay was $7.47 for an assistant child care teacher, according to Community Coordinated Child Care. That agency also keeps track of child care fees. The most recent survey, for March 2001, shows an average hourly fee of $4 for infants and toddlers for in-home care.
When a parent is in a low-paying job, he or she may feel forced to work multiple jobs. "We're saying take care of these kids, and at the same time we're saying work two jobs and they can never see their kids. I think we're really doing a disservice to the kids," Arnesen said.
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