In New Mexico 75 percent of kids are children of color. A new Kids Count report found these kids are disproportionately affected by what's called concentrated poverty, which means that least30 percent of residents in an area liveat or below the poverty level.
Twenty-two percentof New Mexican children of color were experiencing concentrated poverty at the beginning of the great recession but by the end, that rate had jumped to 24 percent.
"Economic development strategies that we have pursued have not been good for anybody except for people at the very top of the income spectrum," said James Jimenez, Executive Director of New Mexico Voices for Children. "We have not been providing jobs that allow people to earn family sustaining wages."
Jimenez said the state's strategy of cutting taxes has failed and these children have been left behind to bear the brunt of these policies.
According to the report,investing in high-quality early childhood education and makingcollegemoreaffordableare first steps.
