Posted on April 23, 2025
CONTACT:
Lana Lee
llee@acnj.org
973-643-3876
NEWARK, NJ – With nearly 860,000 children receiving health insurance through NJ FamilyCare, roughly 401,000 students relying on free or reduced-price school lunch, and close to 360,000 children accessing food assistance through SNAP, looming federal cuts to Medicaid and other essential services would devastate federal programs that support the healthy development of our children, according to Advocates for Children of New Jersey.
Its annual data publication, NJ Kids Count 2025: The State of Our Counties, provides a comprehensive snapshot of how well children are faring in the Garden State, underscoring the impact of federal investments on children and families in meeting their basic needs. The data report provides 63 measures of child well-being across 21 counties in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, child health, child protection, child care, education, and teens.
“Without a doubt, if enacted, these deep federal budget cuts will affect you and someone you know. This includes 1.8 million New Jerseyans who rely on NJ FamilyCare, the state’s publicly-funded health insurance program financed through federal and state Medicaid dollars. Slashing Medicaid will have lifelong consequences for New Jersey’s children and youth, denying them of life-saving care and essential services like well-child visits, immunizations, as well as treatments for chronic ailments such as asthma and dental services,” said Mary Coogan, ACNJ President and CEO.
“Advocates for Children of New Jersey has been a longtime champion of NJ FamilyCare, which now covers nearly 20% of all residents living in the Garden State. Medicaid also covers about a third of all New Jersey births annually. These budget decisions will reverberate not just throughout our healthcare system, but will have a ripple effect on our economy, our education and our future,” Coogan added.
Medicaid funding represents a significant portion of state budgets, with New Jersey alone receiving $14 billion in federal Medicaid dollars. As the state legislature and governor work to finalize the state budget, any potential cuts in federal funding will have direct and substantial implications for New Jersey's fiscal decisions.
“This is a pivotal moment to ensure children's needs are prioritized. With the gubernatorial and general assembly elections approaching this November, and the state budget deadline of June 30 looming, ACNJ's #NJVotes4Kids campaign is encouraging voters to engage with all candidates. Whether attending a town hall or community event, your advocacy matters. Together, we can ensure that New Jersey's children aren't just part of the conversation—they're at the very center of our lawmakers' priorities," Coogan said.
Numbers at a Glance
Demographics
- New Jersey is home to over two million children, and every one in four is under the age of 5.
- Essex County has the largest child population with 198,853 children under 18 years of age, followed closely by Bergen County at 198,334.
- In five counties, more than 40% of children speak a language other than English at home: Bergen (42%), Hudson (57%), Middlesex (47%), Passaic (50%), and Union (47%).
Family Economic Security
- Roughly 13% of New Jersey children live below the federal poverty level, which in 2023 was $30,900 for a family of four (2 adults and 2 children).
- New Jersey’s median family income with children is $126,827. Morris and Somerset have the greatest estimated median family income with children of more than $185,000, in steep contrast to Cumberland’s median family income of roughly $62,000.
- The state unemployment rate was 4.4% in 2023.
- An estimated 263,260 children in New Jersey were estimated to be food insecure in 2022.
- In 2024, 20,466 children lived in families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), more commonly referred to as welfare. The program provides cash assistance to needy families through a federally funded block grant given to individual states.
- In October 2024, of the students participating in free or reduced-price lunch, 57% were also participating in free or reduced-price breakfast. More than half of the counties in the state have rates below that of New Jersey.
Child Health
- In 2022, 73% of expectant mothers received early prenatal care, a 2% decrease from the previous year.
- The infant mortality rate–the rate at which a baby dies before their first birthday–was 4.0 for every 1,000 live births from 2017 through 2021. Data disaggregated by race shows the infant mortality rate for Black babies to be more than double at 8.7 per 1,000 births.
- The number of NJ FamilyCare recipients under age 19 declined by 8% between 2023 and 2024.
- Of the 824 dental practices listed in 0-6 year old MCO directories, only 49% had accurate information on practices that provide dental care for 2-year-olds and only 63% had accurate insurance network information.
Child Protection
- In 2024, only 2% of the 94,801 children reported to the state child abuse hotline were found to be substantiated or established cases of abuse/neglect.
- Of the nearly 3,000 children living in foster care, there remains an over-representation of Black children in out-of-home placements at 43% compared to Hispanic and White children at 26% and 24%, respectively.
Child Care
- In 2024, New Jersey had 4,092 licensed child care centers, with the largest number of centers located in Bergen (440) and Essex (480).
- The number of registered family child care providers–those who care for children in their own homes–increased 14% between 2021 and 2024 with 1,362 statewide. Middlesex County saw the highest jump from 81 providers in 2021 to 153 in 2024.
Education
- During the 2023-24 school year, 60,365 3- and 4-year-olds were enrolled in state-funded public preschool.
- In 2023-24, 1 in 10 of New Jersey’s pre-K-12 students was considered to be a multilingual learner–a student whose primary language is other than English and does not have English language proficiency in listening, speaking and writing.
- Between 2019-2023, about 43% of the state population ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher. The counties where more than half of the population ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher are Somerset (57%), Morris (57%), Hunterdon (56%), Bergen (53%), and Monmouth (51%).
- For the 2023-24 school year, the percentage of third graders meeting or exceeding expectations on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments was 44% for English Language Arts and 48% for Mathematics. A closer look at the data shows wide disparities in proficiency among counties, ranging from a high of 59% (Morris) and 58% (Bergen) to a low of 21% (Cumberland) and 29% (Atlantic) in English Language Arts.
- For the 2023-24 school year, the percentage of eighth graders meeting or exceeding expectations on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments was 53% for English Language Arts and 19% for Mathematics.
Teens
- Births to adolescents and teens ages 10-19 remain at 2%. Cumberland had 7% of its total births to adolescents and teens.
- According to the 2019-2023 five-year American Community Survey (ACS) estimates, 5%, or 23,803, NJ teens ages 16-19 are neither working nor in school. Cumberland is estimated to have 14% of its teens not working nor in school.
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Advocates for Children of New Jersey is the trusted, independent voice putting children’s needs first for 45 years. Our work results in better laws and policies, more effective funding and stronger services for children and families. And it means that more children are given the chance to grow up safe, healthy, and educated. For more information, visit www.acnj.org.
