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Nebraska has moved up two spots to rank ninth overall in a national report on children's health and well-being, according to an annual report to be released Tuesday.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2010 Kids Count Data Book compared 2007-08 data gathered by county, state and federal agencies with similar 2000 data.
The report says Nebraska has improved on five of 10 measures affecting child well-being, with the most progress in the percent of teens neither attending school nor working. The 2010 report shows a 33 percent decrease since 2000, from 6 percent to 4 percent, that put Nebraska fourth in the nation.
But the state also saw a 30 percent spike in children living in poverty, from 10 percent to 13 percent, according to the report. Still, Nebraska ranked 10th in that category. The national average increased slightly during that time period, from 17 to 18 percent.
Nebraska also had lower marks for children in single-parent families and low-birthweight babies. The report says 26 percent of children were in single-parent families, up from 24 percent in 2000, ranking Nebraska sixth. And the state came in 13th for the percent of low-birthweight babies, which rose from 6.8 percent to 7 percent.
The state was tied for first on two newer measures: percent of teens not in school and not working (4 percent); and percent of children living in families where no parent has a full-time job (19 percent). There was no 2000 data for comparison, according to the report.
Nebraska showed small improvements in the infant mortality rate, child and teen death rates, and teen birth rate.
Ranking first overall in the 2010 report was New Hampshire. Minnesota, Vermont, Utah, Massachusetts, Iowa, New Jersey and Connecticut also ranked higher than Nebraska. Mississippi was last.
Nebraska ranked 11th in last year's report, and ninth in 2008.
The Casey foundation is a Baltimore, Md.-based charity that advocates for disadvantaged children.
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Online:
The Annie E. Casey Foundation: http://www.aecf.org/
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