50th in Kids Count, 50th in economic freedom: coincidence? I think not

Anyone who has followed this blog closely has probably read about the fact that New Mexico is the least economically-free state in the USA according to the Fraser Institute — a free market think tank based in Canada.

This week, to great acclaim and media coverage, we saw the release of the Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Voices for Children. This report also found New Mexico to be 50th.

To be fair, while the “Kids Count” is mostly a reflection of poverty, we don’t necessarily agree with all of the report’s findings which were based on inputs that can be found here. After all, “children not attending preschool” seems to pale in comparison as a measuring stick when compared to poverty or failure to graduate when one considers that kids in Sweden — a nation that performs well on international tests and measures — don’t head off to school until age 6. Of course that nation also has rampant school choice via vouchers.

Also, while the head of a household not having a high school diploma is not a positive indicator, it pales in importance to whether that parent is engaged in productive work as opposed to sitting at home waiting for government handouts.