Health Measures Improve for Puerto Rico’s Children; Family and Economic Factors Challenge Prospects

New NCLR report documents risks and opportunities in each of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipios

SAN JUAN, P.R.—The “2012 KIDS COUNT – Puerto Rico Data Book,” released today by NCLR (National Council of La Raza), provides a mixed portrait of children and youth in Puerto Rico’s 78 municipios, noting the high percentage of children living in poverty yet demonstrating positive changes in key health indicators.  The book was released at a briefing hosted by Fundación Banco Popular as part of its Fomentando Alianzas conference, which brought together nonprofit leaders from different municipios to address vital issues in Puerto Rico’s communities.

The report contains extensive data about Puerto Rico’s youth under 18 and measures trends in demography, health, education and socioeconomic well-being.  The report shows that while economic circumstances that directly impact child well-being continue to worsen in Puerto Rico, there are improvements in the teen birth rate, the percent of premature births and the infant mortality rate.

“NCLR’s report shows that the majority of children in Puerto Rico live in families facing dire financial circumstances, which has an enormous impact on their well-being,” said Nayda Rivera-Hernández, Senior Research Analyst at NCLR.  “We need a critical discussion among policymakers, business leaders and parents about how to change this outlook at the municipio level so that all children can enjoy a secure childhood and become productive, successful adults.”

The economic indicators evaluated in this report for Puerto Rico’s 78 municipios are far worse than for any other U.S. jurisdiction; 84 percent of children here live in high-poverty areas, which is seven times the national rate (12%).  Other key findings include:

•    The median income for a family of two adults and two children in Puerto Rico is $19,658, ranging from $10,411 in Guayanilla to $38,602 in Guaynabo.

•    More than half of the children on the island live in single-parent families—ranging from 37.8% in Patillas to 73.8% in Cataño—and have parents who are not securely employed.

•    The mortality rate for children ages 1 to 14 worsened by 30% between 2008 and 2009, when deaths rose from 13.3 to 17.2 per 100,000 in 2009.  Of the municipios that reported deaths of children, San Sebastián holds the highest rate of 63 per 100,000 and Aguadilla holds the lowest rate of 8.9 per 100,000. 

•    The rate of teenagers on the island who do not attend school and are unemployed remains on an upward trend; it currently stands at 16%, double the U.S. national rate, and is particularly pronounced in Humacao, Juana Díaz, Ponce and Río Grande.

“Fundación Banco Popular firmly believes that the only way to advance the individual and shared missions of the nonprofit organizations we support is through strong and solid alliances.  This is why we support the National Council of La Raza.  The ‘2012 KIDS COUNT – Puerto Rico Data Book’ presents reliable and necessary information so that private and government institutions can develop data- driven solutions to the existing challenges facing our youth,” said Beatriz Polhamus, Executive Director, Fundación Banco Popular.

NCLR is the Puerto Rico grantee in the KIDS COUNT network of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which today released the “2013 KIDS COUNT Data Book” featuring the latest data on child well-being for the U.S. as a whole, each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.  NCLR has called for improved collection and accessibility of data on children and youth in Puerto Rico, recommending that children on the island be included in national surveys and data be published regularly, online and at the municipio level.  The “2012 KIDS COUNT – Puerto Rico Data Book” is available online.

This research was funded in part by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Fundación Banco Popular through their support of NCLR’s KIDS COUNT – Puerto Rico project.

NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.  For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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