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Report: Isle teens
are living better,
kids worse
Gains in teen-agers' lives
By Lori Tighe
give Hawaii a decent rating
in Kids Count 2000
Star-BulletinNearly one child out of every five in Hawaii lives in poverty, announced the annual Kids Count 2000 report, which ranked Hawaii 13th in the nation for child well-being.
The state's worsening poverty rate for children failed to offset major gains made in teen-agers' lives, according to the report released today.
"The bad news is the number of kids living with underemployed parents and in poverty have increased. We're doing worse," said Sylvia Yuen, director of the Center on the Family at the University of Hawaii. "The data reflects our economic stagnation."
Yet Hawaii ranked second in the nation for graduating high school students and preventing teen deaths, the report said.
The state also ranked third in the nation for preventing deaths among children aged 1 to 14.
Hawaii's annual ranking for children's well-being: KIDS COUNT RANKING
2000 -- 13th
How other states fared this year:
1. Minnesota (best)
2. New Hampshire
3. North Dakota
4. Wisconsin
5. Iowa
46. New Mexico
47. Alabama
48. Arkansas
49. Mississippi
50. Louisiana (worst)
"The schools are doing something right," Yuen said. "We're keeping kids from killing one another."
Non-alcoholic proms and graduations and improved mental health services are all contributing to preventing deaths, she said.
Better medical care and accident prevention, especially in motor vehicles with the use of car seats, contributed to Hawaii's low child death rate.
The other significant improvement over the past two years is the dropping teen birth rate. Hawaii now ranks 19th in the nation.
Since 1990, Hawaii teens aged 15 to 17 giving birth dropped from 32 girls to 25 among every 100,000 in 1997, the most recent year of statistics. In comparison, the nation's teen birth rate dropped from 37 girls to 32 getting pregnant per 100,000 girls, the report said.
"This is really an important indicator. It's to be celebrated," Yuen said.
"Teen mothers have all the risk factors that lead to rotten outcomes: Most don't get married, they have little or no support from dads, most are undereducated. It sets them up for a poorer life situation."
The state's multi-pronged approach to tackling adolescent health problems from pregnancy to suicide deserves the credit, said Loretta Fuddy, Department of Health, Family Health Services Division chief.
"It's gratifying," she said. "But there's always room for improvement. We have lots of improvement we would like to do. We want to be first in the country."
Yet despite these applaudable improvements in teens, Hawaii's economy in the '90s caused more children to live in poverty.
Hawaii's poverty rate increased by 20 percent between 1990 to 1997, compared to a national increase of just 5 percent, the report said.
"When we look at improvement, the poverty indicator is certainly the one we're most concerned about," said Lynn Fallin, Gov. Ben Cayetano's special assistant on children and families. "It takes more than a single program to change the community. We want to bring people to the table and work toward solutions across the board," Fallin said.
Boost for Kids, a new type of program, looks at the state's big picture. It sets goals for children's programs in health, nutrition and school readiness, and unites various involved parties to brainstorm ways to succeed.
But kids lives are being affected by what the state can't do for their parents, which is jump start the economy. In 1997, 18 percent of Hawaii's children were impoverished, up from 15 percent in 1990 -- but still lower than the national average of 21 percent, the report noted.
While the nation's rate of children living with unemployed parents improved 10 percent from 1990 to 1997, Hawaii's rate worsened by 28 percent.
The state's share of children living with parents who didn't have full-time, year-round employment rose from 25 percent in 1990 to 32 percent in 1997.
"There are forces larger than families. The whole state is in this period of economic stagnation," Yuen said. "Economists are saying we've rounded the corner and our economy is improving. Hopefully we'll see that reflected in future Kids Count reports."
