NM child well-being up before pandemic

Data book shows things had been improving leading up to coronavirus

Before the pandemic, New Mexico’s efforts to improve child wellbeing were gaining momentum.

“The pandemic is a stark reminder about how fragile our systems are, how our equity issues are not addressed, and how we still have deep divides that cause and exacerbate poverty in the state,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Wednesday.

She was among the speakers at an online news conference hosted by New Mexico Voices for Children, which just released the 2020 Kids Count Data Book for the state.

The data book tracks several indicators across four main areas: economic security, education, health, and family and community. Many of the statistics were from 2019, the most recent year available, but trends over many years show where the state has improved and where improvement is still needed, said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children.

There were also some limited statistics compiled in October and November 2020 that show how the state fared during the pandemic compared to the national picture.

According to the data book, 52% of adults living in households with children lost income, the same as the national average.

Some 18% of households with children expressed little to no confidence in their ability make their next rent or mortgage payment on time. The national average is 19%.

New Mexico fared worse than the national average in multiple categories:

■Adults with children in the household who have difficulty paying for household expenses, 49% vs. 41%

Adults reporting that children in their household weren’t eating enough because there was not enough money to buy food, 20% vs. 15%

■Adults with children in the household who delayed getting medical care because of the pandemic, 44% vs. 33%.

Prior to the pandemic, New Mexico had improved in reducing the percentage of children living in poverty; lowering the rate of young children not in school; increasing the percentage of high school students graduating on time; increasing the percentage of children with health insurance; reducing child and teen death rates; and lowering teen birth rates.

Even where statistics improved for New Mexico children, Native American and Hispanic children still fared worse within those categories, said Emily Wildau, the Kids Count coordinator for New Mexico Voices for Children.

New Mexico’s pre-pandemic figures got worse in the areas of children living in families where no parent had secure employment and in children living in single-parent families.

Despite the economic hit New Mexico has taken during the pandemic, Lujan Grisham said she was hopeful that policies would be enacted in the current legislative session to provide crucial funding for programs that will benefit children and families.

“If we don’t start thinking about how we invest in education so that

it’s fair and so that we focus on families who are most at risk, then we are not going to have an equitable, fair, non-discriminatory education system in the state of New Mexico,” she said.

Resolutions in both the state House and Senate, she said, are looking to further tap the Land Grant Permanent Fund in support of educational programs, particularly early education.

Critics have argued that pulling more money out of the permanent fund now would diminish it for future generations.

Jimenez said it’s also important for legislators to enact policies to get money “into the hands of families who will spend it quickly and locally.”

“We believe that all the tax credits to business in the world will not make a difference if people do not have money to spend in those businesses,” he said.