On January 10, 2024, the Annie E. Casey Foundation published its 2024 Race for Results policy report, marking a decade since the initial release in 2014. The report provides insights into the well-being of young people across the United States, broken down by race, ethnicity, and immigrant family status.
The report features an Overall Index that scores each racial/ethnic group out of 1,000 points. New Jersey's youth perform notably well compared to national averages. Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander young people in New Jersey hold the highest overall index in the country. Similarly, New Jersey’s non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native population ranks second nationwide.
Despite these positive indicators, there remains a need for policymakers and communities to assess disparities among New Jersey's children and initiate necessary changes. The report categorizes indicators into early childhood, education and early work experiences, family resources, and neighborhood context.
In terms of family resources from data collected between 2017-2021, about 71% of children in New Jersey live at or above 200% of the poverty level—up from 68% in prior years. Disparities exist when this data is analyzed by race/ethnicity: while 87% of non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander children live above this threshold, only half of Hispanic/Latino or non-Hispanic Black/African American children do so.
Neighborhood context reveals that eight out of ten children in New Jersey reside in low-poverty areas—regions where less than 20% of families earn below the poverty line. This statistic underscores ongoing challenges related to systemic poverty influenced by historical policies like redlining.
For further details on these findings and more information on child well-being indicators from the report, individuals can reach out to Alena Siddiqui at asiddiqui@acnj.org.
