Maine is doing relatively well on several measures of child well-being, ranking 11th overall among U.S. states, according to a national report out today.

However, Maine has seen a rise in infant deaths and low birthweight babies since 2000, and the percentage of children living in poverty has increased, according to the 2011 KIDS COUNT Data Book.

“Children are feeling the effects of the recession all across the country,” Dean Crocker, president of Maine Children’s Alliance, said in a news release about the report. “Maine’s numbers on child well-being look better than other states in certain categories due to some of our successful statewide efforts to support children, but we still have cause for concern.”

The Annie E. Casey Foundation produces the national report each year on the status and well-being of children in all 50 states. The Maine alliance is part of the national KIDS COUNT network, a state-by-state effort funded by the Casey foundation to track the status of children across the United States.

Maine’s infant mortality rate rose from 4.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 6.3 deaths per 1,000 births in 2007. Maine had the biggest increase of all states in infant mortality. In contrast, the national infant mortality rate during that period dropped slightly.

The percentage of low birthweight babies born in Maine increased from 6 percent in 2000 to 6.7 percent in 2008. Nationally, the rate of low birthweight babies rose from 7.6 percent to 8.2 percent during this period, according to the report.

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Also, the percentage of children in Maine living in poverty rose from 12 percent to 17 percent from 2000 to 2009.

Some measures have improved.

Maine’s child death rate dropped from 21 deaths per 100,000 to 16 deaths per 100,000 from 2000 to 2007. The teen death rate also dropped in Maine during this period, from 63 deaths down to 54 deaths per 100,000. Those improvements are credited at least partly to better seat belt use and expanded health insurance coverage.

Maine’s teen birth rate decreased by 10 percent, dropping from 29 to 16 births per 1,000 girls, 15-19, from 2000 to 2008.

 


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