Our Advice To Kids: Move To Minnesota
One in 10 children in New York state is living in [extreme poverty], according to a study released yesterday by the [Annie E. Casey Foundation](http://www.aecf.org/). A total of nineteen percent live below the federal poverty line, which has remained relatively steady over the past five years, as has the number of children living in families where no parent is employed full-time. The state came in at 18th in the nation overall, with Minnesota topping the list as the [best state for kids](http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2007/07/25/study-minnesota-best-state-children.html). But at least were doing [better than Mississippi](http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=247427&pub=1&div=News); it came in last, with rising teen death rates and infant mortality numbers to boot. There was one piece of good news for New Yorks youth, however: the states high school drop out rate has decreased to 33 percent, which is low?
Its the most widely unequal as its ever been. People are working, but theyre not making a lot of money, Laura Beavers, one of the authors of the study told the Post. The child-poverty rate didnt improve even though the economy supposedly got better. The [Kids Count] annual study tracks the status of children in the country, measuring social and economic indicators by state, including family income, high-school dropout rates, death rates and birth rates.
Illustration by [George Cruikshank] for Oliver Twist