Report Finds Iowa Children Are Well Off Compared To Others

Children living in Iowa continue to experience a better quality of life than many of those across the country, according to the 2018 Kids Count report, published Wednesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. But state experts say there’s still room for improvement when it comes to the well-being of young Iowans. “Compared to the United States as a whole, we are doing very well, but comparing Iowa to itself where we were five to 10 years ago, there’s a few indicators we could work to improve,” said Michael Crawford, Iowa Kids Count director and senior associate at the Child and Family Policy Center in Des Moines. For the second year in a row, Iowa ranked fifth nationwide in the Kids Count Data Book.