Counting Kids:
What 20 years of data on Delaware children reveals about the state
OUR UD | Teen pregnancy in Delaware is 52 percent less common than it was 20 years ago. Youth incarceration is down 45 percent. The state’s high school drop-out rate is nearly half of what it used to be, and lead poisoning in children has decreased by more than 92 percent since 1995.
These are just some “cause for applause” findings by KIDS COUNT in Delaware, a UD-based non-profit organization that provides state legislators, public officials and child advocates with reliable annual data on hundreds of issues affecting Delaware’s children and families.
The data-driven organization, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, has also found “causes for concern,” with the most significant issues all sharing a common theme.
“After 20 years of reviewing data concerning Delaware’s children, the biggest issue we’re facing is child poverty,” says Janice Barlow, director of KIDS COUNT in Delaware.
The percentage of Delaware children living in poverty has nearly doubled in two decades, from 12.7 percent in 1992-94, to 22.1 percent in 2012-14. Contributing to this increase is a corresponding uptick in children being raised in one parent families. These figures affect other trends, such as increased infant mortality or obesity rates, less educational success and an increased likelihood of experiencing violent crime.
