Here & Now

Children’s Health Metrics Show Racial Disparities

Frederica Freyberg:
The annual Kids Count data book measures the health and well-being of children nationwide and in Wisconsin. In tonight’s look ahead, of course we would like to be number one across the board, but the overall rankings for Wisconsin don’t seem terrible. For example, children here rank 7th in the nation in economic well-being, 15th for education, and 14th for health. Children in Wisconsin rank 13th overall. But when the child well-being indicators are disaggregated by race, the picture gets much worse. Tonight, we hear from Erica Nelson, project director for Wisconsin Kids Count and Race to Equity. Thanks very much for being here.

Erica Nelson:
Thank you for having me. Good evening.

Frederica Freyberg:
So how do you regard the overall indicators, for example, 7th in the nation for economic well-being?

Erica Nelson:
Well, I think that that says that people can sort of feel good in the aggregate about where Wisconsin’s children are. However, I think that we can continue to do better. And that with the overall ranking for Kids Count for the state of Wisconsin at 13th, I think that we sort of get in a place of is that good enough for Wisconsin children or can we do better. So we need to sort of combat complacency. And again when we look at it with a disaggregated and racial equity lines, it’s a totally different story.

Frederica Freyberg:
And I want to get to that in a moment, but in terms of 15th for education. Again, that’s top 15, but you suggest that there are some pretty major issues around test scores for 4th and 8th grade.

Erica Nelson:
So for 4th grade reading proficiency, it’s 65% of children — white children in particular are not reading-proficient and then those numbers skyrocket when you look at race. There’s this phrase that says, you know, you learn to read from zero to third grade and from third grade on, you read to learn. So it’s absolutely critical to be there. 8th grade math proficiency, we’re also struggling there. We’re doing fairly well in graduation rates. Failure to graduate is only 11% for the state, but I still think we can do better.

Frederica Freyberg:
Some of scores are pretty stunning considering Wisconsin has always prided itself on its public education system.

Erica Nelson:
Absolutely.

Frederica Freyberg:
So, getting to this, what are the numbers like for children of color in Wisconsin?

Erica Nelson:
Well, I mean, I think there’s focuses like child poverty, for instance, which is a really important indicator for future well-being. African-American children are — 36% are poor, 33% of Latino children are poor, and 33% of American Indian children are poor and 26% of Latino children are poor. The rate for African-American child poverty is almost four times that of whites. And then like I said a minute ago, the third grade — or fourth grade reading proficiency for African-American kids, 86% are not reading at a proficient level and it’s fairly similar for Latino children as well.

Frederica Freyberg:
And how else does this — do these indicators kind of trickle down to the well-being of these children?

Erica Nelson:
Well, I think when you’re not equipped because you don’t have the educational tools that you need to be successful throughout the rest your academic career, that presents a challenge. And I also think that children in poverty is actually a reflection of larger families, obviously, in poverty. And you need a family that is economically stable, has access to affordable housing, transportation, and healthcare in order to support a young child into their future.

Frederica Freyberg:
So I was about to ask you what the prescriptions are to try to reverse some of these trends and you just mentioned some, but are there specifics?

Erica Nelson:
I think that we really need to focus as a state on targeted policies. And by that, I mean targeted with a racial equity lens. So there’s economic policies that we can think about like expansion of the earned income tax credit, creating a more livable wage and raising the minimum wage. We haven’t done that in the state in over a decade. There are prescriptions about investments in resources and public education towards the distinct districts that are the most in need so that we can level the playing field in particular for kids of color. And expanding healthcare access, I think, because having healthy babies and healthy mothers during — for prenatal care and the like, actually yields greater outcomes because there’s disparities in low birth weights for African-American children as well. So these are some of the key focuses.

Frederica Freyberg:
How has this trended over the years in Wisconsin?

Erica Nelson:
That’s an interesting question. I think that when we’re looking at the aggregate for the Kids Count, we’re sort of sitting in the same spot. I would argue that there’s a little bit of improvement but not much with respect to child poverty for kids of color. There’s a lot more room for us to make progress. And I think there’s progress overall in housing burden costs but when you look at that disaggregated, African-Americans, 55% are spending more than a third of their income towards housing. So I would say that in tiny places, yes, we’re getting better when you look at it but we have a lot of room to grow when you look at it with a racial equity lens.

Frederica Freyberg:
This data book comes out every year and it seems like every year, we’re talking about the very same issues. How frustrating does that get for people like you?

Erica Nelson:
I think it’s frustrating but I also think that every year provides us an opportunity to talk about what we can do. And given that, you know, we’re in a budget cycle right now, there are targeted investments that can be made to address some of these issues. And I think it provides us an opportunity to talk about how systems and institutions and structures are kind of reinforcing these inequities and what we can do to address them. And also just the opportunity to talk about the importance of looking at things with a racial equity lens in the state. So while it’s frustrating, I appreciate the opportunity to bring it up.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. Erica Nelson, thanks very much.

Erica Nelson:
Thank you. Thanks for having me.