CONTACT:
Eloisa Hernandez-Ramos | eloisa@acnj.org | 732-522-0383
NEWS: Latest Newark Kids Count Data Report, Now Available in Spanish, Reveals Mixed Progress in Outcomes for Child Well-Being
NEWARK, NJ – With fewer families living below the poverty line, a decrease in unemployment, and an increase in median household income, Newark is making progress in some areas of child well-being but losing ground in others, according to Advocates for Children of New Jersey’s (ACNJ) latest data book, Newark Kids Count 2024.
Despite an uptick in the number of children under age 19 receiving NJ FamilyCare, the city’s underinsured rate is 10%, more than double the state’s 4%. Fewer young children are being tested for elevated lead levels and the percentage of expectant mothers receiving prenatal care has remained relatively stagnant at 51%.
“As we continue to recover from the pandemic, learning loss has also been especially significant, with 81% of Newark third graders not meeting proficiency in reading and 89% of eighth graders not meeting proficiency in math,” said Mary Coogan, ACNJ president and CEO. “It’s critical that children and families have access to the resources and programs they need. Families with infants and young children can participate in state-funded home visitation which promotes healthy outcomes and nurtures positive parent-child relationships, but we’ve seen a 54% decline in participation since 2019.”
For the first time, Newark Kids Count 2024 is also available in Spanish. Roughly 42% of the city’s children identified as Hispanic or Latino and 22% of its public school students identified as multilingual learners — more than double the state average. More than half of all births in the city were to foreign-born women, and of those births, 64% were of Hispanic descent.
“With 32% of Newark Public School students speaking primarily Spanish at home, our hope is that this data book will serve as a bridge to reach a wider audience, helping Spanish-speaking residents understand the data in their community as well as the resources available to them,” Coogan said.
The report details how children are faring across nearly 100 indicators among seven domains: demographics, family economic security, health, child protection, child care, education, and teens. Whenever possible, Newark Kids Count disaggregates data by race and ethnicity to take a closer look and identify disparities in child well-being outcomes.
City leaders and community members interested in hosting community conversations to address the data in the report and identify solutions are encouraged to contact ACNJ.
Numbers at a Glance
Demographics
- Nearly 74,000 children under age 18 call Newark home, with 48% identified as Black or African American, 42% identified as Hispanic or Latino, and 23% identified as some other race.
- The city’s child population makes up 24% of its total population.
- Roughly 55% of all births in the city were to foreign-born women, and of those births, 64% were of Hispanic descent.
- Nearly 20,000, or 53%, of all Newark households with children are headed by one parent.
Family Economic Security
- Newark’s median family income is $45,803 – a stark difference from New Jersey’s median income of nearly $120,874.
- In 2023, roughly 1,644 Newark children lived in families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), more commonly referred to as welfare. This is a 25% decrease from 2019. TANF provides cash assistance to needy families through a federally funded block grant given to individual states.
Child Health
- Just 51% of expectant mothers in Newark received early prenatal care in 2022, compared to Essex’s 60% and New Jersey’s 73%.
- In 2022, 26% of all births, in both Newark and the state of New Jersey, were low-risk cesarean deliveries.
- The Newark infant mortality rate, the rate at which a baby dies before their first birthday, was 6.8 for every 1,000 live births in 2017-2021 but, data disaggregated by race shows the infant mortality rate much higher for Black babies (9.4 per 1,000 births) and much lower for babies identified as Hispanic (3.6 per 1,000 births).
- The number of children in Newark under age 6 tested for lead declined at least 14% between 2018 and 2022, and in 2022, only 10 of the 33 confirmed cases where homes required lead abatement were completed.
Child Protection
- As of 2023, 1,633 Newark children were under Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P, formerly DYFS) supervision, which reflects a 47% decrease since 2019.
- The number of Newark children living in foster care declined from 560 in 2019 to 225 in 2023.
Child Care
- Newark has 131 child care centers, representing 27% of Essex County’s licensed child care centers.
- The number of Newark’s registered family child care providers, those who care for children in their own homes, is 94, a 40% decline since 2019.
- Newark saw a 54% decrease in the number of families receiving state-funded home visitation, from 386 families participating in 2019 to 177 in 2023.
Education
- Special education enrollment for Newark Charter Schools has increased by 19% since the 2018-19 school year, while Newark Public Schools saw a 4% decrease. However, there are still more children in special education in Newark Public Schools with 6,315 enrolled compared to Charter Schools with 2,185 enrolled.
- In the 2022-23 school year, 22% of Newark Public School students were multilingual learners, more than double than that of the state.
- Only 19% of Newark Public School third grade students are meeting or exceeding expectations for English Language Arts in the state New Jersey Student Learning Assessment.
- The high school graduation rate for Newark Public Schools was 86% for the 2022-23 school year, less than the state average of 91%.
Teens
- Newark saw a 34% decrease in teen births, from 291 births in 2018 to 192 births in 2022.
- Juvenile arrests fell from 326 in 2019 to 296 in 2023.
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