Some state legislators offer this explanation for diminishing investments in programs for children and youth: “We can’t invest because we’re a poor state.”

They’ve got it backwards, says Michael Petit, Founder and President of the Every Child Matters Education Fund. “You’re poor because you don’t invest," he says, in children and youth—the future of our economy and our country.

A major new report from ECM ranks the best-performing states—those with the best health and well-being outcomes for children and youth, as measured by 10 common indicators ranging from infant mortality and prenatal care to child poverty, abuse and juvenile incarceration—against those in the lowest-ranking states.

“In states with the best outcomes a child is more likely to receive medical attention when ill, to be protected from further assaults if sexually abused, to be treated for a mental illness rather than incarcerated, and to receive the special help needed to finish high school,” the study says.

Key Findings

The gap is strikingly wide. (Jump to chart of rankings.) Some facts:

Infant mortality. Children born in the bottom 10 states are 70 percent more likely to die before their first birthday than children in the top 10. In Louisiana, the infant mortality rate is more than twice as high as in Montana and Vermont.

Child mortality. A child in the bottom 10 states is twice as likely to die by the age of fourteen as a child in the top 10. In South Dakota, the child mortality rate is 3.5 times higher than in Rhode Island.

Inadequate prenatal care. Women in the bottom 10 states are more than twice as likely to receive inadequate prenatal care as women in the top 10 states. In New Mexico, women are more than 5 times as likely to receive inadequate prenatal care as women in Rhode Island or Vermont.

Child poverty. A child living in the bottom 10 states is twice as likely to live in poverty as a child in the top 10. In Mississippi, the child poverty rate is 3 times greater than in Maryland or New Hampshire.

Child abuse and neglect. Children in the bottom 10 states are 6.7 times more likely to die from abuse and neglect as children in the top states. In Oklahoma, children are 13 times more likely to die from abuse or neglect as those in Maine.

Lack of health insurance. Children in the bottom 10 states are 2.8 times as likely to be uninsured as children in the top 10. In Texas, a child is 5 times as likely to be uninsured as a child in Rhode Island.

Teen pregnancy. Teens in the bottom 10 states give birth at a rate twice as high as those in the top 10. In Texas, the teen birth rate is 3.5 times that of New Hampshire.

Teen death. Teens in the bottom 10 states are more than twice as likely to die between 15-19 as those in the top 10. In Alaska, the teen death rate is more than 2.5 times higher than in Hawaii.

Teen incarceration. Juveniles in the bottom 10 states are more than twice as likely to be incarcerated as juveniles in the top 10. In Wyoming, the juvenile incarceration rate is more than 8 times Vermont’s.

What explains the differences between the states on key child well-being standards? In addition to poverty, race and educational achievement, the Every Child Matters Education Fund identifies the following factors:

• Political Culture: The bottom states generally have a narrower view of the role of government in addressing social issues.

• Taxes: The bottom states generally tax themselves at much lower rates, leaving themselves without the revenue needed to make adequate investments in children—there is a close correlation between state tax burdens and child well-being.

• Weak Federal Policy: Federal initiatives to address the well-documented needs of children across the country—health care, child abuse, poverty—have been scant.

• Declining Federal Investments: Federal investments in children, historically structured in a way meant to level differences between states, have declined sharply as a percentage of the federal budget in recent years—and they are projected to decline more sharply in the decade ahead.

Listen to the audio from the press release (which includes Q&A), read the summary and full report, and check out the rankings by Indicator and by state on the Geography Matters section of the ECM site.

Making Children an Election—and Budget—Priority

“Sixty to 90 percent of health and social services spending in your state comes from Washington. What happens in Washington Matters,” Michael Petit told participants in the Every Child Matters Training Institute on April 10.

From now until the election, ECM is working with state and local partners to help make children and youth a genuine priority in the 2008 presidential election and beyond. Here are some of the resources you won’t want to miss:

• Homeland Insecurity — this booklet reviews the big issues affecting children and families and elected officials need to make them a political priority.

• National Training Institute — this training provides a step-by-step process for creating a non-partisan, public education campaign directed at candidates, the media, the public, and those who work at child and family serving sites. If you missed the Denver Institute, you can still get involved.

• Federal and State Campaigns

• There’s also polling, reports, and news on the Every Child Matters site!

>>Back to Key Findings.