New Report Signals Trouble Ahead for New Jersey’s Children with Growing Reliance on State to Meet Basic Needs
Kids Count 2010, released today by the Association for Children of New Jersey, presents the first data on the overall impact of the economic downturn on New Jersey children and their families. The report points clearly to greater economic challenges for families and to a growing demand for help in meeting the most basic needs of New Jersey’s kids.
The poverty level has increased, with more than one in eight children in the state now growing up in poverty. The number of children relying on nutritional benefits also grew. There was a 38 percent rise in the number of children in families receiving food stamps from 2004 to 2009. With the drastic rise in unemployment, more families accessed health care assistance – 52,000 additional children enrolled in NJ FamilyCare, which includes Medicaid, in the five years ending in 2009.
“While the data shows that families have been able to get help in meeting the basic needs of their children, it also underscores the presence of growing need, fueled by high unemployment and increasing child poverty. Coupled with the growing budget deficit, what we have emerging is the perfect storm for families,” says Cecilia Zalkind, Executive Director of ACNJ. “It is more important than ever to maintain the safety net for these families, especially as this data is only the first glimpse at how children and families are faring in the recession.”
At the same time, outcomes of child well-being have improved in several areas, continuing progress of the last several years. In education, fourth grade students in low-income school districts continued to narrow the achievement gap with their peers in more affluent districts, reflecting the positive impact of high-quality pre-school. While the data on health is not as current, available records indicate that infant mortality, a long-standing problem for the state, dropped eight percent from 2002 to 2006. There was also a promising 22 percent drop from 2005 to 2009 in the number of children under child protective services through DYFS.
These gains are the result of investments the state has made in child welfare reform, preschool and health care. “As a state report, I believe Kids Count 2010 speaks to the success of those investments we’ve made in New Jersey,” says Zalkind. “The new governor and legislature face difficult budget decisions in the months ahead, and it is our hope at ACNJ that Kids Count 2010 can help base those decisions on fact by showing us what works.”
Kids Count 2010 found positive trends that include:
Median family income in the state rose 4 percent over the four-year period ending in 2008.
Preschool enrollment is up 12 percent, surpassing the national average. Close to two thirds of all 3- and 4-year-olds in the state were enrolled in public or private preschool.
The Kinship Legal Guardianship (KLG) program, which formalizes the arrangement of relatives and family friends caring for children, increased by five times from 2004 to 2007.
Kids Count 2010 found that challenges remain, including:
Housing costs continue to present a particularly heavy burden for New Jersey residents. Close to half spent more than the recommended 30 percent of income on housing in 2008, leaving little for other essentials, such as food, transportation and clothing.
The achievement gap in education remains significant, particularly in 8th and 11th grades. Only 44 percent of low-income 8th graders passed the state math test in 2008, compared to 68 percent of all students in the state.
Despite an overall rise in the number of children with health insurance, more than one in ten children in New Jersey remained without coverage in 2008.
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