Report Finds Big Disparities in Well-Being of U.S. Kids

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And children in Louisiana are more likely to live in poverty with no health insurance than children in Vermont. Louisiana children are also eight times more likely end up in jail and 13 times more likely to die from abuse and neglect, according to the report.

The 10 states at the bottom of the list are: Arizona (41); South Dakota (42); Nevada (43); Arkansas (44); South Carolina (45); Texas (46); Oklahoma (47); New Mexico (48); Mississippi (49); and Louisiana (50).

The 10 top states are: Vermont (1); Massachusetts (2); Connecticut (3); Rhode Island (4); New Hampshire (5); Hawaii (6); Iowa (7); Minnesota (8); Washington (9); and Maine (10).

Other key findings contained in the report:

• Children in the bottom 10 states are 70 percent more likely to die before reaching 1 year of age.
• Children in the bottom 10 states are twice as likely to die by age 14.
• Women in the bottom 10 states are twice as likely to get inadequate prenatal care.
• Children in the bottom 10 states are twice as likely to live in poverty.
• Children in bottom 10 states are 6.7 times more likely to die from abuse and neglect.
• Children in bottom 10 states are 2.8 times more likely to be uninsured.
• Teens in the bottom 10 states are twice as likely to have children of their own.
• Teens in the bottom 10 states are twice as likely to die between 15 and 19 years of age.
• Children of the bottom 10 states are more than twice as likely to be in jail.

According to the report, a number of factors play a role in the disparity between states. These include political culture, where the bottom states tend to see government's role in social issues as limited. Bottom states also generally have lower taxes, so they invest less in children's programs.

On the federal level, programs for children's health care, child abuse and poverty have been declining as government money earmarked for children has been cut. Federal funding is expected to be reduced even more in the next decade, the report said. Federal spending on children declined from 20 percent of domestic spending in 1960 to 15 percent in 2005, Petit said.