Child Well-Being in North Dakota Ranks Near Top Despite Poverty Concerns
North Dakota ranks seventh best in the nation in the well-being of its
children, according to the North Dakota KIDS COUNT! Fact Book released in
August. However, a lack of affordable and quality child care, a growing
proportion of single parents and economic condition places 14 percent of the
state’s children in poverty.
The September Population Bulletin released from the North Dakota State
Data Center at North Dakota State University presents selected indicators
from the "2003 North Dakota KIDS COUNT! Fact Book", a publication released
annually by the North Dakota KIDS COUNT! project. For a copy or more
information regarding the KIDS COUNT findings and highlights, please contact
Richard Rathge, Executive Director of North Dakota KIDS COUNT! at (701)
231-8621 or Richard.Rathge@ndsu.nodak.edu
or Helen Danielson, Coordinator of North Dakota KIDS COUNT! at (701)
231-5931 or
ndkidscount@yahoo.com . Another source of information is the
North Dakota KIDS COUNT! Web site at
http://www.ndkidscount.org.
The 2003 North Dakota KIDS COUNT! Fact Book details the well-being of
North Dakota children by geographical location across the state. "We focus
on six critical areas; population, family composition, economic condition,
child care, education, and child risk measures, to assess children’s health
and well-being in North Dakota," says Rathge says.
The 2003 publication marks the ninth annual publication produced by the
North Dakota KIDS COUNT! Project, part of a 50-state network founded by the
Annie E. Casey Foundation to collect information about the status of
children in communities across the United States. Data included in the
yearly North Dakota KIDS COUNT! Fact Book cover issues affecting children
from birth through adolescence and are widely used by a variety of audiences
in planning, needs assessment, and grant writing activities on behalf of
North Dakota children. Fact Book data offer a road map to better
understanding the challenges facing North Dakota children in the communities
where they live, and quantify the numbers of children affected by respective
areas of concern.
Highlights from this year’s Fact Book:
Population
Between 2000 and 2002, North Dakota’s population declined 1.3
percent, dropping from 642,200 to 634,110. West Virginia was the only
other state to experience a decline in population during the past two
years.
North Dakota's population continues to consolidate with 54 percent of
residents living in the five largest urban counties: Cass, Burleigh,
Grand Forks, Ward, and Morton.
Nearly half of North Dakota counties experienced decreases of at
least 30 percent in children ages 0 to 5 between 1990 and 2000.
Family Composition
More than 81 percent of North Dakota women with children ages 0 to 17
are in the labor force, the second highest proportion in the nation in
2002. In addition, 76 percent of North Dakota women with children ages 0
to 5 are in the labor force.
While a greater proportion of foster care placements are in the rural
areas of the state, North Dakota's four largest counties capture nearly
40 percent of placements (Cass, Burleigh, Grand Forks, and Ward). In
2000, thirty of the state’s 53 counties had fewer than five foster care
placements.
Economic Condition
The proportion of children living in poverty in North Dakota has
declined from 17 percent (28,120 children) in 1998 to 14 percent (22,163
children) in 2000.
In 2000, 14 of the state's 53 counties had more than one in five
children ages 0 to 17 living in poverty.
Approximately 39,000 children less than 18 years of age (25 percent
of all children) lived in poor or near-poor families in North Dakota in
2000, a decline from 50,313 children (or 30 percent of all children) in
1990.
The median income of North Dakota families with children totaled
$44,640 in 2000, compared to $48,196 nationally.
Child Care
North Dakota children ages 0 to 13 totaled 119,805 in 2000, down 14
percent from 139,413 in 1990.
Licensed child care in North Dakota has remained consistently
available to about 25 percent of the children ages 0 to 13 over the past
five years.
The availability of licensed child care in North Dakota is
concentrated in the eastern half of the state and larger population
centers.
Self-certified child care was available for approximately 4 percent
of North Dakota children less than 14 years of age in 2002.
Education
North Dakota's investment for education increased $280 per student
between 2000-01 and 2001-02, reaching an average of $5,550 per student.
School enrollment, measured by average daily membership, dropped 3
percent between 2000-01 and 2001-02 in North Dakota.
Average ACT scores for students rose in 23 of North Dakota's 53
counties between 2000-01 and 2001-02. Overall, the average ACT score for
North Dakota was 21.2 in 2001-02, compared to the national average of
20.8.
Special education enrollment in North Dakota increased 10 percent
between 1993 and 2001, reaching a total of 13,627 students.
Special education enrollment for emotionally disturbed children in
North Dakota has nearly doubled over the last nine years, rising from
561 students in 1993 to 1,096 students in 2001.
Children at Risk
Statewide, reports of child abuse and neglect declined slightly
between 2000 and 2001, falling from 4,055 to 4,023.
Total juvenile offenses in the state declined 7 percent over the past
year, dropping to 13,374 in 2001.
The proportion of North Dakota infants born to mothers receiving an
inadequate amount of prenatal care has been slowing rising: from 4.3
percent in 1999 to 5.3 percent in 2001.
North Dakota high school dropouts totaled 751 during the 2001-02
school year. That is 2 percent of all high school students in grades 9
through 12. North Dakota has one of the lowest dropout rates in the
nation.
North Dakota has one of the lowest teen birth rates in the nation at
12 per 1,000 females 15 to 17 years old, compared to 27 per 1,000
nationally.
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Source: Richard Rathge, (701) 231-8621,
richard.rathge@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629,
tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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