Minnesota ranks near top in well-being of kids

Playground fun
First-graders, from left, Franciso Diaz Xique, Luke Wilts and Samira Ahmed chase one another on the playground at Red Oak Elementary School in Shakopee, Minn. Wednesday, April 6, 2011. Most of the region's population growth over the last decade occurred in second- and third-ring suburbs, led by Shakopee, which added 16,508 people.
MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

Kids Count is an annual ranking that measures the well-being of American children, state by state, according to 16 different indicators. This year, Minnesota ranks fourth in the welfare of its children, behind three New England states.

MPR News reporter Sasha Aslanian quoted Stephanie Hogenson, outreach specialist with the Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota, as saying that the growing number of children living in poverty remains a challenge.

"One in seven children lives in poverty in Minnesota," Aslanian reported. "Nationally, that number is closer to one in four."

Hogenson joins The Daily Circuit to talk about the study's findings.

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