Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Children in Minnesota...
There is a lot of talk about being concerned for the welfare of children in Minnesota. Some actually wonder if this is just an alarmist attitude... after all, for the past 14 years Minnesota has been in the top four livable states in the nation and was even ranked number one for a seven year stretch. Surely things must be okay...
Well things could certainly be better for our children. Below are some of the depressing statistics compiled by the Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota. Take a look at some of these facts and let me know if you think there is cause for concern....
There is a lot of talk about being concerned for the welfare of children in Minnesota. Some actually wonder if this is just an alarmist attitude... after all, for the past 14 years Minnesota has been in the top four livable states in the nation and was even ranked number one for a seven year stretch. Surely things must be okay...
Well things could certainly be better for our children. Below are some of the depressing statistics compiled by the Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota. Take a look at some of these facts and let me know if you think there is cause for concern....
Children in Minnesota
- 1,248,770 children live in Minnesota
- A child in Minnesota is abused or neglected every 53 minutes
- A child in Minnesota is born into poverty every hour
- A child in Minnesota dies before his or her first birthday every day
- A child or teen in Minnesota is killed by gunfire every week
- Minnesota ranks 2nd among states in the percent of children who are poor.
- Minnesota ranks 4th among states in infant mortality.
- Minnesota ranks 5th among states in percent of babies born at low birthweight.
- Minnesota ranks 17th among states in per pupil expenditures.
- Minnesota ranks 17th among states in the percent of babies born to mothers who received
early prenatal care.
[*1st represents the best state for children and 51st represents the worst state for children.]
- Number of poor children 143,756
- Percent of children who are poor 11.7%
- Number of adults and children receiving cash assistance from Temporary
- Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) 95,755
- Maximum monthly TANF cash assistance for a family of three $532
- Number of children who receive food stamps 107,830
- Percent of eligible persons who receive food stamps 63%
- Number of children in School Lunch Program 576,121
- Number of women and children receiving WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) 102,008
- Percent of children under age six with all parents in the labor force 71.7%
- Number of children served by Head Start 10,331
- Number of children served by the Child Care and Development Block Grant 26,400
- Average annual cost of child care for a four-year-old in a center $7,436
- Number of children who were victims of abuse and neglect 9,982
- Number of children in foster care 8,052
- Number of children adopted from foster care 626
- Number of grandparents raising their grandchildren 16,391
Education in Minnesota
- Amount spent per pupil in public school $7,190
- Percent of fourth graders reading below grade level 63%
- Percent of fourth graders below grade level in math 58%
- Average class size in public elementary schools 21.7
- Average class size in public secondary schools 25.3
- Number of children without health insurance 76,000
- Percent of children without health insurance 5.7%
- Percent of two-year-olds who are not fully immunized 23.2%
- Percent of 16- to 19-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and are not highschool graduates 5.9%
- High school completion rate 91.9%
- Percent of 16- to 19-year-olds who are unemployed 9.5%
- Number of juveniles arrested 42,874
- Number of children and teens in juvenile or adult correctional facilities 1,931
- Number of children and teens killed by firearms: 37
12 homicides; 24 suicides; 0 accidents; and 1 undetermined
// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 9:40 PM 
