Submitted Photo One in five children in North Dakota live in a household spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Photo from Adobe Stock.

More children in North Dakota are living in poverty, according to a new report, and advocates say stronger policies are needed to address the trend.

The annual Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranks states on factors that affect children’s well-being. North Dakota fares best in the health and family and community categories.

But Xanna Burg, director of North Dakota Kids Count, said 13% of children across the state are living in poverty. Children of color experience higher rates, she said, because of generational disinvestment and discrimination.

“It’s really a measure of whether families have the financial means to afford basic needs like safe housing, food and childcare,” Burg said. “So seeing poverty really jump up like this, it’s a signal that families are struggling.”

Burg said policies such as state child tax credits and free school meals could directly support families dealing with rising costs. North Dakotans will vote in November on a mandate requiring the state to pay for meals for K-12 students.

A new scoring system this year shows whether policies and public investments are improving children’s lives. North Dakota ranks poorly when it comes to young children enrolled in school, but Burg said those numbers do not reflect the state’s recent investments in early childhood education, including programs aimed at helping children be ready for kindergarten.

“We’re still waiting for the data to catch up to understand access to early childhood education and how that’s impacted the state,” Burg said. “So that’s one where you could look at the data and think, North Dakota’s not doing so well. Data just takes a while to catch up to the policies.”

Similar to national trends, fewer fourth graders in North Dakota are proficient in reading since the pandemic. Burg said those effects will likely continue for years.

“Reading proficiency is tied back to access to early childhood education, how often children were read to in their early years,” Burg said. “It ties back to kindergarten readiness, so it’s a building measure where you wouldn’t expect it to recover super quickly.”

The report also shows more children in North Dakota are uninsured. With federal changes to safety-net programs such as Medicaid, Burg said it is critical for the state to improve outreach to ensure eligible children are enrolled.