CONTACT: Lana Lee | Advocates for Children of New Jersey | llee@acnj.org

Newark Kids Count Data Report Shows City's Increasing Diversity, Positive Gains in Child Well-Being

NEWARK, NJ - New Jersey’s largest city is growing and becoming more diverse, with Newark children making up 24% of its total population and more than half ages 5 and older speaking a language other than English in their home, according to Advocates for Children of New Jersey’s (ACNJ) latest data book, Newark Kids Count 2023.

Read Newark Kids Count 2023

The report details how children are faring across nearly 100 indicators among seven domains: demographics, family economic security, health, child protection, child care, education, and teens.

“In order to understand the vibrant city that is Newark, ACNJ is holding conversations with community leaders and Newark residents, taking a deeper dive into the data, identifying solvable issues, and developing and implementing concrete plans to improve child outcomes,” said Mary Coogan, the organization’s president and CEO.

With a rise in family median income and high school graduation rates, as well as a decrease in unemployment and teen births, the data book highlights a number of positive trends in the city. In addition, the number of child care centers rebounded significantly since the pandemic from only 60 centers in 2020 to 135 centers two years later.

However, more work is needed to help residents access important resources and programs. The number of Newark families with infants and young children receiving state-funded home visitation has gradually declined, despite proven results in promoting health outcomes and nurturing positive parent-child relationships. Moreover, the percentage of expectant mothers in the city receiving prenatal care has remained stagnant at 55%.

Most significantly, Newark public school students consistently underperformed on the state-administered assessment tests in comparison to New Jersey. Only 19% of their third graders met or exceeded expectations in the New Jersey State Learning Assessment for English Language Arts, compared to 42% of all New Jersey third graders. This was a drop from the 2018-19 school year, when the percentage for Newark and New Jersey third graders was 29% and 50%, respectively. These figures do not include charter schools.

“The pandemic worsened preexisting achievement gaps, with low-income communities and communities of color being the hardest hit. It disrupted learning even beyond academic gains, with far-reaching implications on the social and emotional health of students. As leaders address the well-being of children in Newark, mental health must be part of that conversation,” Coogan said.

City leaders and community members interested in hosting community conversations to address the data in the report are encouraged to contact ACNJ.

Numbers at a Glance

Demographics

• Newark’s population has grown, with the city’s total population increasing by 9% and its child population increasing by 14% between 2016 and 2021.
• The city’s child population makes up 24% of its total population.
• The majority of Newark’s child population is Black or African American (47%), followed by 41% identifying as Hispanic.
• About 51% of Newark’s population ages 5 and older spoke a language other than English in their own home.
• Roughly 63% of Newark households with children are headed by one parent - an increase of 31% since 2016 - compared to a five-year increase of 12% for Essex and 0% for New Jersey as a whole.

Family Economic Security

• Newark’s median family income is $40,272 - a stark difference from New Jersey’s median income of nearly $112,000.
• In 2022, roughly 1,717 Newark children lived in families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), more commonly referred to as welfare. This is a 36% decrease from 2018. TANF provides cash assistance to needy families through a federally funded block grant given to individual states.

Child Health

• Roughly 55% of expectant mothers in Newark received early prenatal care in 2021,
• compared to Essex’s 65% and New Jersey’s 75%.
• In Newark, the infant mortality rate, the rate at which a baby dies before their first birthday, was 7.3 for every 1,000 live births in 2016-2020, much higher than the rate of Essex County (5.6) and New Jersey (4.2). Data disaggregated by race shows the infant mortality rate for Black babies to be 10.2 per 1,000 births and for babies identified as Hispanic, 4.0 per 1,000 births.

Child Protection

• As of 2022, 1,475 Newark children were under Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P, formerly DYFS) supervision, which reflects a 63% decrease since 2018.
• The number of Newark children living in foster care dropped from 786 in 2018 to 313 in 2022.

Child Care

• In 2022, Newark had about 135 child care centers, a significant jump from 2020 when the number was 60.
• The number of registered family child care providers, those who care for children in their own homes, was 86.
• Newark saw a 30% decrease in the number of families receiving state-funded home visitation, from 344 families participating in 2018 to 242 in 2022.

Education

• Special education enrollment for Newark charter schools has increased by 29% since the 2017-18 school year, while Newark Public Schools saw a small decrease. However, there are still more children in special education in Newark Public Schools with 6,232 enrolled compared to charter schools with 2,129 enrolled.
• During the 2021-22, English Language Learners represented 17.2% of total enrollment in Newark Public Schools compared to 7.4% in all of New Jersey. New Jersey State Learning Assessment data shows a decrease in the percentage of Newark students meeting or exceeding expectations for English Language Arts and for Mathematics.
• In 2018-19, 29% of Newark third graders were meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts. In 2021-22, this became 19%.
• With a graduation rate of 85%, Newark Public Schools saw a 12% increase since 2017- 2018.

Teens

• Newark saw a 13% decrease in teen births, from 245 births in 2017 to 213 births in 2021.
• Juvenile arrests fell 14% from 329 in 2018 to 283 in 2022.

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ACNJ is the trusted, independent voice putting children’s needs first for more than 40 years. We educate the public and policymakers and equip caregivers with the information they need to be their child’s strongest ally. Our work results in better laws and policies, more effective funding, and stronger services for children and families. This means more children are given the chance to grow up safe, healthy, and educated.