RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- An annual report finds North Carolina isn't improving on keeping teenagers in school and children from living in single-parent households.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation's 2010 Kids Count Data Book released Tuesday ranks North Carolina 37th for overall children's health and well-being, the same position as last year but up from No. 45 in 2003.
The study shows 20 percent of North Carolina children lived in poverty in 2008 -- before most families felt the recession's impact. The child poverty rate has hovered around the same level since 2000.
Eight percent of the state's 16- through 19-year-olds were not enrolled in school and were not high school graduates in 2008. The rate was twice as high in 2000.
