Alabama is making progress in child well-being, according to the most recent data from the 50 states compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The annual report states: Kids Count Data Bookshows Alabama has moved up from 45th to 39th in that category this year.

In coming up with the national rankings, the report took into account each state's economic well-being, education, health, family and community factors, and the foundation was particularly interested in how children are faring post-pandemic.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, a KIDS COUNT grant recipient, has partnered with VOICES for Alabama Children.

“The KIDS COUNT Data Book tells two stories about Alabama: how Alabama compares to other states, and how Alabama compares in year-over-year data and trends,” said Rhonda Mann, executive director of VOICES. “From a national perspective, Alabama's ranking has improved, but the state's child welfare outcomes still require attention.”

“We are cautiously optimistic about the progress we're seeing in Alabama's child well-being data. There's no denying that many children and families in our state face significant challenges, but we know that with investments in effective programs, family supports and resources, we can make improvements in areas that need attention.”

While Alabama students, like the rest of the country, experienced learning setbacks during the pandemic, the state remains the only one recognized to have exceeded pre-pandemic achievement levels, and state education policymakers are crediting investments in early literacy and numeracy.

Despite these successes, there is still much work to be done to improve the well-being of Alabama's children. Rising child poverty, low math achievement and stagnant reading scores all hurt the overall ranking.

For example, some data from the report shows that in 2022, only 19% of Alabama eighth graders will perform at or above proficient level in math, down 3% between 2019 and 2022. Reading proficiency remained steady at 28% for the same period, with the percentage of fourth-graders performing at or above proficient. Despite these statistics, Alabama's ranking in this area improved from 47th to 41st.

Even more concerning, in 2022, the percentage of children living in households where neither parent works full-time will reach 29%, a 6% decrease from 2019. Alabama also ranked third in the nation for the percentage of children without health insurance.

Austin Shipley is a staff writer for Yellow Hammer News. You can follow him on X. @ShipleyAusten