Measures of children’s well-being — including education, health, economic conditions and family and community — at the national and state levels are included in the 2026 Kids Count Data Book published in June by The Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Considering 16 indicators across those categories, the country’s index score (based on a range from 0 representing the worst to 1,000 representing the best) was 547 with seven indicators seeing improvement while seven worsened and two remained unchanged.
“Consistent with the past two Data Books, the greatest number of setbacks occurred in the Education domain, with three of its four indicators losing ground: math and reading proficiency and preschool attendance. These declines underscore that our nation has yet to fully recover from the pandemic,” said Lisa M. Lawson, The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s president and chief executive officer.
Nationally, between 2020–24, 54 percent of children ages 3 and 4 did not attend school compared to 52 percent from 2015–19. In 2024, 70 percent of fourth graders weren’t proficient in reading compared to 66 percent in 2019 and 73 percent of eighth graders lacked proficiency in math versus 67 percent previously. The percentage of high schoolers who did not graduate improved slightly, however, from 13 percent in 2023–24 compared to 14 percent in 2018–19.
Comparing 2024 to 2019, the percentage of children in poverty in the U.S. declined to 15 percent from 17 percent as did the percentage of young people whose parents lacked secure employment (25 percent in 2024 versus 26 percent in 2019). However, children living in households with a high housing cost burden increased incrementally (31 percent compared to 30 percent) in the same period. In 2024, 7 percent of teens were not in school or working versus 6 percent in 2019.
“Although the official child poverty measure (based on cash income only) has declined, the latest rate still represents more than 11.1 million kids living below the federal poverty threshold ($31,812 for a family of four in 2024); we know families can earn above this amount and still not meet their basic needs,” according to the report. “Children in the United States continue to be more likely to live in poverty than the population as a whole.”
In the area of health, the rate of children without health insurance was stable at 6 percent and the percentage of youth ages 10-17 who are considered overweight or obese declined to 30 percent in 2023–24 from 31 percent in 2018–19. The rate of children and teen deaths per 100,000 worsened from 25 in 2019 to 27 in 2024 and more low birth-weight babies were born (8.3 percent in 2019 versus 8.5 percent in 2024).
Indicators regarding family and community saw the most positive change. Children in single-parent families remained stable at 34 percent between 2019 and 2024; children in families where the household head doesn’t have a high school diploma decreased from 12 percent in 2019 to 11 percent in 2025; children living in high-poverty areas decreased from 9 percent in 2015–19 to 7 percent in 2020–24; and teen births per 1,000 declined from 17 in 2019 to 13 in 2024.
National data disaggregated by race is also presented in the report.
“These scores remind us that progress is possible — and every state can do more to support children and families, even states that are performing relatively well,” Lawson said of the organization’s findings.
California
Of the 50 states, California ranked 33rd for overall child well-being with a score of 532.
In education, the state ranked 34th as the percentage of children ages 3 and 4 not in school increased from 50 percent in 2015–19 to 55 percent in 2020–24 (503,000) and the rate of fourth graders not proficient in reading worsened from 68 percent in 2019 to 71 percent in 2024 as did eighth graders not proficient in math (71 percent versus 75 percent). The sole bright spot was a drop in the rate of high school students who didn’t graduate on time (14 percent in 2023–24 compared to 16 percent in 2018–19).
In the economic domain, California ranked 45th. Fifteen percent of children were in poverty in 2024 (1.2 million) compared to 16 percent in 2019 and the percentage of children in households with a high housing cost burden remained unchanged at 41 percent (about 3.4 million). Twenty-eight percent of children (about 2.4 million) had parents who lacked secure employment compared to 27 percent previously and 7 percent of teens were not in school or working (142,000) compared to 6 percent previously.
The state came in ninth for health metrics as the rate of children without health insurance dropped from 4 percent in 2019 to 3 percent in 2024 (280,000) and youth ages 10-17 considered overweight or obese remained at 31 percent. Child and teen deaths per 100,000 worsened from 18 in 2019 to 21 in 2024 (1,862) and low birth-rate babies rose from 7.1 percent in 2019 to 7.4 percent in 2024 (29,730).
Coming in 34th for family and community, 5 percent of children were living in high poverty areas in 2020–24 (418,000) compared to 9 percent in 2015–19 and teen births per 1,000 were down to nine in 2024 (11,164) from 12 in 2019. Children in families where the head of household didn’t have a high school diploma dropped from 20 percent in 2019 to 17 percent in 2024 (roughly 1.4 million). The percentage of children in single-parent families saw a slight uptick from 33 percent in 2019 to 34 percent in 2024 (2.75 million).
