WEAC Research Paper

Child Well-Being in Wisconsin

The success of Wisconsin's public schools is inextricably linked to the general well-being of the students who attend those schools. As expectations for student achievement have increased, so have the physical and emotional needs of the children attending our schools. Programs have been developed, and schools have responded to the needs of children in a variety of ways. For example, school breakfast programs, Head Start opportunities, school-based child care, integrated school and social services, and free and reduced school lunches are all indicators of the belief that children cannot succeed in the classroom if their physical and emotional needs are not met.

Children live and learn with multiple, interrelated needs which must be met if they are to be successful students and become successful adults. Not all of these needs can be addressed by the school, and yet a child's school success is predicated on the degree of social support and family well-being available. Relationships among social conditions and success in school are well documented. The failure to provide social support for children is strongly related to poor school achievement. What, then, is the condition of Wisconsin's children?

Research on Child Well-Being: How Are Children Faring?

Family income data suggest that the economic circumstances in which children live continue to deteriorate. The percentage of children under the age of 19 living below the poverty level has increased from 15.6% in 1969, to 17.1% in 1979, to 20.6% in 1990. The 1992 Current Population Survey done by the Census Bureau each March suggests that the trend continues. The March 1992 Current Population Survey shows that 25% of children under the age of 5 live in poverty, compared with 20% in 1990.

The official poverty level is determined annually by the US Office of Management and Budget and is adjusted for the rate of inflation. For example, in 1989 the poverty level for a family of four was set at $12,674, in 1990 at $13,359, and in 1992 at $14,343. The 1990 poverty level compares with a national median family income in that year of $34,175.

Benefits received by welfare recipients have also deteriorated over time. The average AFDC and Food Stamp benefits received by a mother and two children in 1972 were $10,169 while in 1991 the amount was $7,471 (calculated in 1991 dollars).

The economic circumstances of poor families are compounded by a low wage structure. For example, an hourly wage of $5 per hour will yield an annual income of $10,400, before deductions, assuming full-time year-round work. In 1990, although 43% of poor infants and toddlers lived in a family where no parent worked, 57% of these children lived in families with at least one working parent. Poor children are not primarily the children of welfare.

The 1994 KIDS COUNT Data Book, published by the Casey Foundation, compares the fifty states on ten indicators of child well-being: percent low-weight babies, infant mortality, child death rate, percent of births that are to single teens, juvenile violent crime arrest, percent graduating from high school on time, percent of teens not in school and not in labor force, teen violent death rate, percent of children in poverty, and percent of children in single-parent families.

Wisconsin's composite rank on these ten indicators in 1994 was 11th compared with 10th in 1990, 10th in 1991, 8th in 1992, and 8th in 1993. Wisconsin's current national rank on each of the ten indicators (best is 1st and worst is 50th) follows:

Low Birthweight Babies — 18
Infant Mortality — 21
Child Death Rate — 21
Births to Single Teens — 25
Juvenile Violent Crime Arrests — 29
High School Graduation On Time — 7
Teens Not in School or Working — 2
Teen Violent Death Rate — 16
Children in Poverty — 8
Children in Single Parent Families — 14

Wisconsin Data on Child Well-Being

The 1994 edition of Wisconsin Kids Count presents county by county data on child population, family income, education, children's health, juvenile justice, and social services. Data on Wisconsin's thirteen largest cities are also included.

Using 1980 and 1990 census figures, the Wisconsin Kids Count report concludes that Wisconsin's child poverty rate grew faster during that decade than did the national rate. Wisconsin's child poverty rate grew 35.5% over the decade, compared with a national increase of 11.3%. In 1979, the state's child poverty rate was fifth lowest among all states, while a decade later it ranked 22nd.

Poverty among children varies dramatically with geography in Wisconsin. Of the fourteen counties with a child poverty rate in excess of 20%, all but Milwaukee county are rural counties (Menominee, Forest, Sawyer, Vilas, Douglas, Adams, Langlade, Vernon, Rusk, Jackson, Ashland, and Waushara). Poverty is not only a problem of the city; it exists and remains largely hidden in rural Wisconsin.

Among the nation's 77 largest cities, the city of Milwaukee ranks 65th with a poverty rate for young children (infants and toddlers) of 39%. Milwaukee's poverty rate exceeds that of such cities as Chicago (33%), Minneapolis (31%), Philadelphia (30%), Houston (29%), St. Paul (28%), Denver 27%), and Los Angles (26%).

In other Wisconsin cities, the percentage of children under the age of 18 living in poverty is as follows: Appleton (9.5%), Eau Claire (20.6%), Green Bay (19%), Janesville (11.3%), Kenosha (20.5%), La Crosse (24.8%), Madison (12.7%), Racine (25.8%), Wausau (18.4%).

Poverty among children in Wisconsin also varies by race. Only 9.8% of the state's white children were poor in 1990 while 32.6% of Hispanic-American children, 44.6% of American Indian children, 48.1% of Asian-American children, and 54.1% of African- American children were poor in 1990. The poverty rate for Wisconsin's Asian-American children is the highest in the nation while the state's rate for poverty among African-American children is exceeded only by the poverty rate for African- American children in Louisiana. Wisconsin has the worst poverty rate in the nation for African-American children under the age of five.

Observations

Assessing child well-being is a difficult task. While poverty is an important indicator of need, it is but one indicator of a child's experience. Many adults emerge from childhood poverty to lead successful and productive lives. While the data may not be predictive, it is the trends, the changes over time, that offer some insight as to the direction the society is taking. Ohio's Republican Governor George Voinovich, Chair of the National Governors' Association Action Team on School Readiness, describes the consequences of providing prevention oriented services to children and their families: "It is about the public good. It is about the quality of life. It is about economic growth. It is about investing now to avoid later costs. It is about saving America."

Readiness to learn takes on new meaning as the condition of young children and adolescents is understood. If support for student well-being is absent outside the school setting, the school faces a choice. It can provide whatever support children require and thereby increase school expenditures or it can ignore the problems of well-being, thereby increasing levels of pupil failure. Despite increasing costs, the schools "caring" function must continue to expand because education can only be revitalized with such an emphasis.

References

Haveman, Robert and Wolfe, Barbara. "America's Children: Status, Prospects, Policy." The LaFollette Policy Report. 6 (Winter 1994), pp.3-11.

Infants and Toddlers: Dramatic Increases in Numbers Living in Poverty. Washington, D.C.: United States General Accounting Office, 1994.

Kids Count Data Book: State Profiles of Child Well-Being. Baltimore: Annie E. Casey Foundation, 1994.

Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children. New York: Carnegie Corporation, 1994.

The State of America's Children: Yearbook 1994. Washington, D.C.: Children's Defense Fund, 1994.

This document was prepared by the WEAC Professional Development & Training Division