November 11, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
2004 Kids Count Data Book ranks states according to 10 indicators designed to assess child well-being. Produced annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, in Baltimore, the report gives Minnesota and New Hampshire the highest ratings, while Louisiana and Mississippi receive the lowest scores. At the national level, the report says that all but two of the indicators — the percentage of low-birthweight babies and the percentage of single-parent households — showed improvement between 1996 and 2001. An introductory essay describes how the information was collected and notes political and social factors that may have played a role in shaping the data.
Publisher: Annie E. Casey Foundation, 701 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, Md. 21202; (410) 547-6600; fax (410) 547-6624 ; webmail@aecf.org; http://www.aecf.org; 212 pages; available free for download at http://www.kidscount.org.
