Analyzing Differences in Child Well-Being Among U.S. States

This article develops a comprehensive composite state-level index of child well-being modeled after the Foundation for Child Development’s Child Well-Being Index (CWI) to assess state differences in child well-being among the 50 U.S. states in 2007. The state-level CWIs are composed of 25 state-level indicators clustered into seven different domains or dimensions of child well-being. In addition to examining state rankings and the inter-relationship among domains across states, statistics on 27 demographic, economic, and policy characteristics of the states are analyzed in a regression analysis with respect to their ability to explain state differences in the CWIs. Because of the large number of explanatory variables and the potential redundancy created thereby, a principal components analysis/composite index method is applied. This leads to three composite indices that simplify the regressor space and explain 66.0 % of the variance. A second regression that adds three key policy measures to the three structural indices explains 79.5 % of the variance. Key findings of the study pertaining to how the resources available to children provided by families, communities, and the public sector relate to child well-being are discussed.