In this KIDS COUNT policy report, the Foundation explores the intersection of kids, race and opportunity. The report features the new Race for Results Index, which compares how children are progressing on key milestones across racial and ethnic groups at the national and state levels. The index is based on 12 indicators that measure a child’s success in each stage of life, from birth to adulthood. The indicators were chosen based on the goal that all children should grow up in economically successful families, live in supportive communities and meet developmental, health and educational milestones. Download the Race for Results Index Methodology
The report also makes four policy recommendations to help ensure that all children and their families realize their full potential.
Overall, the index shows that at the national level, no one racial group has all children meeting all milestones. Using a single composite score placed on a scale of one (lowest) to 1,000 (highest), Asian and Pacific Islander children have the highest index score at 776 followed by white children at 704. Scores for Latino (404), American-Indian (387) and African-American (345) children are distressingly lower, and this pattern holds true in nearly every state.
Rapid changes in U.S. demographics demand that we build accessible paths to opportunity for all kids.
For African-American children, the situation is dire. In general, states in the Rust Belt and the Mississippi Delta are places where opportunity for African-American children is poorest.
American Indian children are meeting significantly fewer milestones in the upper Midwest, the Southwest and the Mountain States. The score for American Indian children in South Dakota is the lowest of any group in any state on the index at 185.
Although Asian-American children scored the highest on the well-being indicators, children of Southeast Asian descent (e.g., Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian and Vietnamese) face barriers on the pathway to economic stability.
The scores for Latino children are cause for deep concern. Only eight states had index scores above 500, with the highest score in Alaska (573).
