Nonprofit NC Child launched a new data center this month, as well as data cards for all 100 counties, to assess children’s health, education, and well-being as individuals and within their families and communities.
Here are some takeaways, combining the snapshot of child well-being from the statewide data card, embedded below, and data from the new center.
Economic security has slightly improved in recent years
Forty percent of children were living in poor or low-income households in 2023, a slight improvement from 41% in 2022, according to the statewide data card. About 19% of children were living in households in 2023 that were food insecure, a slight improvement from 19.6% in 2022.
From 2013 to 2022, the percentage of children in families who lack secure employment has fallen from 32% to 25%. The percentage of children living in housing cost burdened homes has fallen from 38% in 2010 to 26% in 2022. Child poverty has fallen from 25% in 2013 to about 17% in 2022.
However, the implications of recent federal cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP are concerning advocates, according to a press release.
“The County Data Cards equip decision makers, community leaders, and child advocates across the state with the latest information about what children and families in their community need to thrive,” said NC Child Executive Director Erica Palmer Smith. “Together, we can continue advocating for policies that improve the lives of all North Carolina children.”
Literacy rates have not recovered from pre-pandemic levels
Third-grade reading proficiency has improved since the pandemic, but test scores are still not back to pre-pandemic levels. Racial disparities in reading proficiency persist.
Close to 49% of children scored proficiently on third-grade reading tests in the 2023-24 school year, compared to 47.8% in the 2022-23 school year. That’s up from 45% in 2020-21, but down from 56.8% in 2018-19.
Only 34% of Hispanic/Latino children scored proficiently in 2023-24, up from 33.8% the previous school year, and about 30% in the 2020-21 school year. That’s down from 42.6% in 2018-19.
About 35% of Black children scored proficiently in 2023-24, up from 33% the previous school year and 27.8% in 2020-21. That’s down from pre-pandemic level of 40.8% in 2018-19.
High school graduation rates have slightly improved, to about 87% in 2023-24 from 86.5% in 2022-23. That’s up from 82.5% since 2013.
When disaggregating by race, that’s 95% of Asian students who graduated on time in 2023-24, 89.7% of white students, 84.3% of Black students, 83.4% of children with two or more races, 83.2% of Hispanic/Latino students, and 82.4% of American Indian students.
Racial disparities persist in infant health
The organization’s maternal and infant health indicators held steady from 2022 to 2023, with 72% of women receiving prenatal care, 9.4% of babies born at a low birthweight, and 10.7% of babies born pre-term.
Racial disparities persist in infant health, according to the data. About 16% of Black babies were born at a low birthweight in 2023, compared to about 7% of white babies, the racial subgroup with the lowest rate. And 15% of Black babies were born pre-term, compared to 9.5% of white babies. Asian families had the lowest percentage of pre-term babies, at 8.8%.
Enrollment is down in licensed early childhood programs
The center also explores early childhood education data indicators.
Enrollment in licensed early childhood programs, including child care centers and family child care homes, fell 10.5% from 2018 to 2024, with 219,550 children enrolled in 2024 compared to 245,347 in 2018. The number of licensed facilities has decreased by about 11.5% over the same period, from 6,015 in 2018 to 5,325 in 2024.
Children are more likely to stay in foster care after two years of placement
The data center also explores trends in the child welfare system. It shows an increase over the last decade in the percentage of children in the Department of Social Services (DSS) custody after two years of placement.
Since 2011, that rate has increased from 26.6% to 39.8% in 2023. It also shows a drop in the number of foster care homes in recent years, from 6,916 in 2019 to 5,616 in 2023.
Pulling data from across agencies, stories from across state
The NC Child data center includes more than 35 measures across education (early childhood, elementary, and postsecondary), health and wellness, family economic security, child welfare, and overall demographics.
“We’ve heard from people across the state that it can be hard to find information about our children because it’s spread out across different agencies and platforms,” Palmer Smith said. “We’re proud to offer a new Data Center that will be the go-to place for learning about how North Carolina’s children are doing and how we can improve.”
The data tool also includes filters by county and legislative district.
“The Data Center puts the pieces together so not only can someone find the data they were looking for, but they can see how that data has changed over time, as well as how it fits into a larger picture of child well-being,” said Neil Harrington, the organization’s research director.
At the bottom of each data domain, the center includes quotes from the organization’s qualitative students.
“Quantitative data is important,” Harrington said. “But the stories and experiences matter, and paired with qualitative data from interviews, focus groups, and listening sessions, we’re able to provide more nuanced insight into the needs of North Carolina’s children and families.”
The data is from publicly available sources such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Public Instruction, the North Carolina Healthcare Association, the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the UNC Jordan Institute for Families.
“There are additional measures included in the Center that are not otherwise easily and publicly accessible, such as the number of pediatric behavioral health visits by county, percentage of subsidy eligible children served by county, and the number of child care facilities over time by county, among others,” the press release reads.
“No matter where someone lives in our state, they should be able to find out how the children in their community are faring,” said Smith. “Our data products help shine a light on where our collective efforts are succeeding and where we can do better by our babies.”
Liz Bell is the early childhood reporter for EducationNC.
This story was originally published by EdNC.org