Race and geography determines the well-being of North Carolina's youth
A new study by Action for Children, a Raleigh, N.C.-based advocacy group, found that North Carolina's minority children lag far behind white children in several measures of a child's well-being, including health, poverty and education.
Despite research showing that the juvenile justice system is more developmentally appropriate for children under the age of 18, North Carolina is one of three states to treat 16- and 17-year-olds as adults in all aspects of their contact with the criminal system. In fact, more North Carolina youth were processed as adults than as juveniles in 2004. Significant disparities continue to exist for North Carolina's children of color. Youth of color are four times more likely to be in the juvenile justice system than white youth even though white children outnumber them nearly 2 to 1. African-American infants are nearly twice as likely as their white counterparts to be born with low birthweight. Almost one of every two children live in low-income households. Most children in poverty like either along the coast or in the mountains.
The report also found that the percentage of children without health care in North Carolina increased by 10 percent in the past four years. In addition, the number of poor children in working households increased by half between 2004 and 2007, because of the growth of low-wage jobs and stagnating salaries.
Some other findings from the report:
