Despite Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signing numerous policies intended to improve the well-being of New Mexico’s children, the state continues to rank last nationally. That’s according to this year’s Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, released Wednesday. But, despite the concerning score, there is hope in the data.
The annual study looks at factors like poverty, education, health and family — like how many children are being raised by a single parent and the rate of teen pregnancy.
Amber Wallin is the executive director of New Mexico Voices For Children, which coordinates the study locally. She said the low ranking is despite recent policy changes.
“We’ve expanded early childhood care and education programs — we’re a nation-leader in that area,” she said. “We’ve made child care within reach and we’re increasing wages, we’re supporting our child care providers.”
Last year, the state gave child care providers a $3 raise and expanded which enrollees of the state’s Child Care Assistance Program qualified to have their co-pays waived, substantially expanding access to free childcare. This year, New Mexico also increased the amount of its state child tax credit for those with the lowest incomes.
So, why is New Mexico still dead last? Wallin said it's partly because most of the data in this year’s report is from 2021.
“That’s before many of the policies New Mexico has passed had gone into place,” she said. “Certainly before they had a chance to really have an impact.”
For the last decade, New Mexico has ranked either 50th or 49th for how well its kids are doing, but Wallin said that doesn’t mean the state is stagnant.
“I think it’s important to look beyond the rankings, to dig a little bit deeper, and look at what New Mexico has done over time,” she said.
Since 2010, the rate of New Mexico children living in poverty is down by 20%, for instance, and the rate of teens giving birth here dropped by nearly 65%. More of the state’s kids are also graduating high school.
Wallin said the reason those improvements haven’t boosted the state nationally is that others are improving too, and New Mexico had a lot of catching up to do.
“And so it’s going to take continued improvements, continued investments, and really doubling down on this progress we are seeing,” she said.
The state’s best individual rankings this year include being 26th in the nation for the number of families with burdensome housing costs and 33rd for how many kids lack health insurance.