Advocates said North Carolina children would benefit from a state-level child tax credit to support family well-being, as a new report showed the state continues to lag behind many others.

The annual Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked North Carolina 34th in child well-being. The state saw a small decrease in child poverty and in the percentage of children living in high-poverty areas but the report found nearly 10% declines in math scores for eighth graders and literacy scores for fourth graders, a trend mirrored across the country in the post-pandemic years.

Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs for the foundation, said children’s well-being affects more than their individual outcomes.

“It's not only the well-being of the child, it's the academic outcomes of the child, it's the climate in the classroom, it's just a ripple effect from the child to the family, to the community, and even to the school,” Boissiere outlined.

For the first time, the report offered a comprehensive score, rather than just a ranking, to better track whether investments in children yield positive improvements. North Carolina received a score of more than 530 on a 1,000-point scale.

Neil Harrington, senior director of policy and research for the advocacy group NC Child, said modest gains in economic well-being are encouraging, but families are still struggling to afford basic needs. He urged lawmakers to create a state-level child tax credit program similar to the federal program that lapsed in 2021.

Child poverty dropped by nearly half during the expanded tax credit years, but rose sharply when the credit disappeared, according to advocates.

“North Carolina does not have a child tax credit,” Harrington explained. “Creating programs or tax benefits that put money back into the pockets of families can make it easier for them to kind of pull off that budget balancing act — and afford the rising cost of raising a family in our state.”

The report also found across-the-board improvements in North Carolina community factors, including declines in teen birth rates, single-parent households and the rate of heads of households lacking a high school diploma.

Source: Public News Service