However, the state’s progress was not keeping pace with the rest of the country.
The Foundation’s analysis comes from new data in the 2021 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report released annually to track child well-being in the United States. The 2021 edition uses 16 indicators to rank each state across four domains: health, education, economic well-being, and family and community. Overall, Alabama ranks 47th in the nation. Massachusetts and New Hampshire received this year’s top rankings, while New Mexico and Mississippi are the lowest-ranked states.
Over the last decade, the well-being of Alabama’s children improved or remained the same in 14 of the 16 indicators the Foundation tracks. The state ranks in the top 20 nationally on three indicators, including two indicators in the top five: the percentage of students not graduating on time (8%) and the percentage of children without health insurance (3%). However, Alabama remains behind the national average on 12 indicators. Despite an increase over the ten-year period measured in this report, the state ranked the lowest on eighth-grade math proficiency (79% not proficient).
VOICES for Alabama’s Children is the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT grantee in Alabama.
“The 2021 KIDS COUNT Data Book reviews the last set of data points collected about Alabama’s children before the start of the COVID pandemic,” said Judd Harwood, a partner at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP and a member of the VOICES for Alabama’s Children Board board of directors. “While we are proud to see Alabama improve in most areas measured, the low rate of improvement before the pandemic is alarming. Understanding this report will not only help state policymakers measure the impact of the pandemic on our children but also better target COVID resources to children and families likely most affected by the virus.”
The Data Book’s authors are cautious about this year’s findings, noting that most of the data in this year’s report reflect the well-being of children before the COVID-19 pandemic began. It does not capture COVID’s impact on children over the last 18 months. The authors warn that the challenges children face likely worsened, and they fear the pandemic may have erased more than a decade of progress.
Longleaf Strategies advises on communications strategy and leads media outreach for VOICES for Alabama’s Children’s Kids Count activities.