Voices for Utah Children releases 2016 edition of Measures of Child Well-Being in Utah

For the first time, the newest edition of Measures of Child Well-Being in Utah by Voices for Utah Children includes data by race and ethnicity. The data show that the Utah child population is growing and diversifying.

The child population grew by about 45,000 additional children (2006-2013 average versus 2010-2014 average).

The Utah child population is more diverse than Utah’s adult population. In 2015, 1 of every 4 Utah children was a child of color.

Minority populations continue to grow in Utah. It is projected that about half of Utah children will be children of color by 2050.

Measures of Child Well-Being in Utah reports concerning changes in child death rates but continued improvement in the teen birth rate.

There was a steep rise in youth suicide in Utah. Between 2013 and 2014, the suicide rate among Utah 10-19-year-olds jumped from 9.4/100,000 to 12.6/100,000.

After a few years of steady decline, injury deaths are on the rise again, from 12.2/100,000 Utah children ages 0-19 in 2013 to 15.4/100,000 in 2014.
The teen birth rate continues to decline, from 8.6 births per 1,000 Utah females ages 15-17 in 2009-2013 to 7.9 in 2010-2014.

Read entire article. Data for the report were collected as part of the KIDS COUNT® project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.