This is not a raciest statement; all the states at the bottom have either a very large % of the population that are Black, Hispanic or Indian; low wages poverty all lead to bad health!

The states at the bottom also profess to have high family values (many christian fundamentalists) and have strong tea party/small government movements. So if the fundamentalists and tea partiers take over i guess this is what the country will look like. Regardless of poverty you'd think family values would have some impact given Christian charity and all. Hypocrits in action!

I'm trying to find which is the dumbest state so I can recommend it for you. I'll be in touch.

Mississippi and the rest of the bible belt states seem to always be the most obese, least healthy, lowest IQ, etc. Just a few days ago it was 10 straight southern states for the top 20 laziest states in the USA. I'm so sick of the argument that Red states are pulling all the weight in this country. Unless you're talking body fat, I'm not buying it.

First of all no matter how many Hispanics, African Americans or Indians there are in one state that has nothing to do with poverty, there is plenty of poverty in white communities as well believe me, just because they don't publicly say so doesn't mean it's not there, furthermore there are more poor whites on welfare than any other race in the US. Poverty doesn't discriminate regardless of color. So before pointing the finger check your facts.

To: Christopher Haslett, #1.3 - Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:01 PM EDT
http://health.newsvine.com/_news/2010/07/27/4761879-healthiest-state-for-kids-new-hampshire-study-says#c15974991

My vote is Georgia.

Ed, I must disagree. If you will notice, Utah is number 4 on the list and they are the most family oriented/conservative state in the country. Your assumptions are flawed my friend.

States are not the ones that should be feeding, clothing, taking care of children. Parents are.

LOL. I agree. Who determines this crap!!! Better yet, Who cares!!

Rhino, I must disagree with your disagreement. Ed didn't say that there are no family-values-professing, conservative states at the top of the list. He said that such states comprise the bottom of the list, which is true.

Also, there's a difference between being family-oriented and professing family values. A seemingly small, but real difference in these times.

Rhino

Utah is the exception not the rule. Ten of the bottom 11 states are southern -- all red all tea partyiers. Ninteen of the bottom 20 are red states. The only southern state in the top 20 is Virginia. Could you explain those numbers and not just point out one lone exception?

forsaxon,

I have to point out that your earlier post , according to my research, is skewed. While I agree there is a higher number of whites on welfare, the percentage of whites on welfare is the lowest between the 3 major groups (White, Black, Hispanic). I'm not saying your facts are wrong, but they don't paint the whole picture either.

...and these bottom dwelling states want to DICTATE to the rest of us how to run our government.

Not by example I presume.

Is Utah the exception, or could it be your initial assumption was flawed. Your initial statement basically stated; Mississippi has unhealthy kids, and strong family/conservative values, therefore Conservatism + Family Values = unhealthy children.

It seems to me that the variables that add up to unhealthy children are probably not conservatism or family values based on the fact that when you look at Utah, your formula no longer holds water. Therefor, you must begin to look at other factors, and not just the factors that you would like to blame it on.

forsaxon; you honor me by taking my blog name; Kman is correct, there is nothing raciest by attempting to explain what is a fact; white or black poverty leads to bad health, nothing raciest about that!

"In 2000, 6 percent of the children in the state were estimated to be living in poverty, according to the survey. In 2008, the number had grown to 9 percent." And 6 percent nationwide -- the years of the Bush/Cheney administration and tax cuts for folks earning a quarter million or more. Looks like the wealth isn't trickling down (duh!). And the Republican southern states need to start looking out for their own best interest and start voting for Dems.

well since the article didnt address exactly how the best and worst were determined i would say it is little more than baloney. Now if they spelled out all the criteria you would probably learn that a lot of blue states get high marks because of programs that are in place and the actual effectiveness of these programs is most likely not that good nor are they cost effective.

the people doing these studies have agendas, the people interpreting them have agendas, and the people like me arguing about them have agendas. but unless they spell out exactly what the criteria is it is nothing more than propaganda.

a good measure of how children do is by checking the state to see what percentage of 25 year olds are self sufficient as opposed to on welfare, dead before they got there, or otherwise impaired.

What does the tea party have to do with this?

Percentage of Black population top of list.

NH .7 Minn. 3.4 Vermont .5

Bottom of list

Alabama 29.2 Louisiana 32.4 Miss. 36

I'm sure that all of those people in the South vote for the tea party.

I bet all those "people" in the south aren't even registered to vote.

Louisiana was the laziest state.

Sorry ass was too lazy to reference the article - must be from Louisiana.

.......and the states contributing the smallest amounts to this federal government is Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine etc. Take away Teddy Bear sales and Maple syrup (unhealthy) and what do they contribute? Slobbering, spitting, idiots running for President, crooked Senators with their white hair that are now bailing out as they should be in jail. You can't run a country built on services and no mfg..

Teddy Bear (Vermont) and Maple Syrup (Vermont) don't have anything to do with New Hampshire.

Dave Davis how about you post things that you know about instead of posting stupid and wrong information.

@Dave Davis If you look at tax funds recieved from the states CT and MA are ranked in the top five per capita. If you were to compare taxes paid vs federal funds recieved CT, MA, NH are in th etop 20 with RI breaking even. VT receives $1.08 for every $1.00 spent. ME is a different story.

Furthermore the New England states rank highly in education and health.

Seriously....couldn't agree more.. unfortunately the people who are in poverty are the ones reproducing like crazy.

This is not necessarily true. My children and I are far below the poverty line.....so far below that we can't even SEE the line. Even with a full time job, we are loosing our home (I've searched for a 2nd job and work temp jobs any time I can). However, when I had my children, I was married, making a decent income, and above the poverty line, not in poverty and reproducing like crazy. I've since divorced, relocated, and made various other changes. I certainly didn't visualize giving birth, having such a dramatic reduction in income, and change in lifestyle for my children.

The less money you have, the less access you have to healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegatables. So of course the state with the lowest amount of poverty-stricken citizens will have healthy kids.

Education is also a factor when it comes to the poor. They often have less access to information. Myths like, you can't get pregnant if you are a virgin, are commonplace.

You can't get pregnant if you are a virgin?!? Or do you mean if it is your first time?

mumof2--that is an extremely unfortunate situation but unfortunately its not uncommon. i guess being where i am from you see a lot of trashy people having several kids and they simply cannot afford them. when i say "trashy people" i dont mean anyone who is under the poverty line. if you went down certain areas of where i am from (which so happens to be in NH) you would know what i am talking about ie: rude, obscene, unsightly, unhappy people.

but when it comes down to it. i dont think anyone should have more than 2 kids from now on. our world is becoming far too overpopulated. its scary.

I think you're assuming too much. These people might have had kids when they were far above the poverty rate. People have lost jobs and such. The fact that the numbers rose can't be all towards kids being born into poverty. Sometimes bad things happen to families that were once well off.

I have two teen boys and have busted my butt for almost 16 years trying to do the best i can for them. I have been divorced for almost 16 years. My ex husband did not pay child support for the 1st 9 years! I SUPPORT THEM. And it sucks that i have no degrees in anything and have worked low paying jobs, but, its what i do to take care of them. I am at poverty level and can't believe someone would say, quit making babies! How rude, you dont know everyones situation. Crap happens. You know i have applied for food stamps and got denied because i was $36 over the limit. And yes, i do agree there are those people that have baby after baby so they don't have to work, lazy butts! And its the people that bust their ass to survive that get turned away! BS. My ex is $55,000 behind in child support, works when he feels like it, has a drug and alcohol problem and then gets put in jail so he doesn't have to pay. So, I AM STRUGGLING. So, BOB, im sure you have a great job, wife and support your kids well, right? Until you have been in someones situation, you don't know crap. Some of us, we get crapped on all the time and cannot get ahead. Bad things happen to good people, including myself.

DING DING DING DING!!!

Mumof2: Please don't take offense by this statement as it is not pointed at persons in your situation. Situations can change at the blink of an eye. But if someone has no intentions, they are the ones that need to quit having babies. It is directed at the people who choose to be the social leeches of society.

For example, I know a 6 year old..who's mother is strung out on whatever she can smoke. She did this while preg with this child and she took state assistance to flip the bill. She refuses to get herself together and financially support this kid and do the right thing. Oh, I failed to mention, she's pregnant again and hasn't stopped her drug use! She refuses to pay support for the first..how will she handle the second?

Another true situation: a single mom has a a child and the father can be 1 of 4 different men. She doesnt work, refuses to work and she's on food stamps. She had an easy 100K surgery compliments of the State of Georgia. She files a federal and state tax return every year and walks away with about 4grand in her pocket laughing her rear end off because she knew she just commited highway robbery. I want to know WHY the HELL this happens.. Anyway,

THIS is why Georgia is number 42 on this wacked out survey list!!

Georgia is number 42 on this survey because the fat republican politicians here don't give a damn about children (except for their own, who undoubtedly get their healthcare from out of state, probably Virginia or Maryland).

Georgia is number 42 on this survey because the fat republican politicians here don't give a damn about children (except for their own, who undoubtedly get their healthcare from out of state, probably Virginia or Maryland).

Since when is it a politicians job to take care of children? Thats whats wrong with America. Parents are responsible for their children, not the government. The only person in the world who can teach children the importance of hard work, education and good health, are parents. The only people who can raise a child well and stable, and give a child a good quality of life, is a parent. Id say whats wrong with Georgia is people with your mind frame. I know that sound offensive but I refuse to apologise for the truth.

The less money you have, the less access you have to healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegatables. So of course the state with the lowest amount of poverty-stricken citizens will have healthy kids.

This is such crap. To name a few, bananas are $.49 a pound at kroger. Bundles of whole organic carrots are $.99. Chicken on the bone is like $3 for 24 pieces. And like I said, thats just to name a few. The reason people feed their kids fast food is because they are lazy. Pure and simple.

Well put!

addylynn:

"Drug addiction" means the person already needs to be treated in order to overcome her situation, which means a third party needs to step in in order for this person to have a chance to get out of it. The reasons this person fell in the hole is a different story and I would guess you are not aware of the details, are you? Point is, most often it is NOT by choice that someone destroys his/her life with drugs, just people without the right person next to him/her when they needed guidance. You probably did, and didn't pass beyond a little weed on the weekend in your highschool days. Be honest.

The other lady you talk about at this time would probably have to pay more for daycare than she would get paid for any type of work, so how are you going to fix that?. Probably leaving your child in a place where he will get beat up or molested. Don't know how you would know how much her surgery cost, but regardless, are you suggesting she should've stayed home and deliver the baby herself?.

I think you make good points but not being able to put your anger aside makes your arguments weak.

I would just like to say that I am a GA Resident, and I have been for 21 years.

I do not appreciate comments that are merely sweeping assumptions.

Can anyone spell stereotype? I agree mostly with akfortytexan. People are lazy. But there are lazy people everywhere...IN THE US!

Yes, there may be higher percentages in this survey but that does not speak for individuals in those states. Everyone has a personal situation and story and you cannot let the minority group speak for the masses.

To those of you that say stop having children? GO TO CHINA

And for the rest of you, I was one of those Christian Fundamentalist Homeschooled Children.

My parents moved to GA, I did not have a say in which state I was raised, but my spelling, reading, and grammar skills are much higher than a lot of children across the US. Not just the "Bible Belt." And I know countless other people with the same stories.

It is the parents responsibility to raise their children and teach them the value of hard work, good education and health.

And healthy food is more expensive than processed and frozen items. But through simple budgeting and lifestyle changes, you can feed your family healthy meals.

People eat fast food everywhere. Stop acting like you all know what goes on in the South as a whole. I do not have a southern accent, I can spell, I can read, I have a job, and I eat extremely healthy. I have respect for individuals around me and am grateful for the country I live in.

And who is responsible for that? My parents, who raised me in the state of Georgia.

P.S. I also have 5 siblings.

Bob NH, you're obviously an expert in sustaining the gene pool. Are you getting your wisdom from God? Who are you to pass judgement on poor folks? There have been many poor children that grow up to very successful members of society. Isn't that the whole point of raising a child. You @ss clown!

AMEN big time BOB! We have one child. One lovely child. We do not have to ask for welfare bacause we can afford the child we have. People wouldn't have to ask for welfare if they would stop having children when they cannot afford them!!!! People who do have kid after kid they cannot afford are asking hard-working & good decision making people to pay for their kids. I don't mind helping people on hard times, in fact, my ailing father lives with us now and we would not be able to be helping him if we had a large family. He has been with us for 6 and a half years. I think some people should be sterilized. I really do.

I agree. If you can't afford a baby why make one? The flip side is lots of families start out with a mom and a dad, then the dad leaves and doesn't pay child support. So mom is left to live in poverty and becomes dependant on the state. How do you fix this? Poverty level people still pump out babies like they're going outta style and dads keep leaving their families to suffer. Classy.

Moms leave their babies too!

Yeah, only the rich should have children. if you're broke you should be broke AND unhappy and your family should die off with YOU because only the rich deserve to have families.

@Wisdom-2080007 i think maybe YOU shouldve been sterilized. Imagine how much MORE you could be helping that ailing father if you never had that kid. As a matter of fact, I think you should put that child up for adoption or give them to the state, JUST so you can help your pops out. Thats the only humane thing to do.

Who dreams up these alleged 'statistics'? What criteria is used to determine how a state is ranked?

I live in the second ranked state in this article. Guess what? I can find plenty of poverty and problems here, too. Articles like this only serve to polarize people. They do no one any good. I have been to some of the 'worst' ranked states and found the people in those states to be every bit as good as the 'best' people in the better ranked states. Don't read anything into this crap. It has no validity whatsoever and opinions are still just that.

A Modest Proposal

How about if instead of sterilizing all the poor people, and all those who may one day fall on hard times and become poor before their youngest child graduates college, we simply take their kids and use them to feed all the rich people? The concern with opver-population is that we will run out of food because there are too many mouths to feed - but not if we eat all those unwanted babies being born to "trashy people." Those who are too poor can donate their reproductive services to feed those who are wealthy enough to afford it. It's a win-win!

Yes, this is sarcastic, and no, it is not original. I borrowed it from Jonathan Swift, but to make the same point he did. To claim that the poor, by virtue of being poor, have fewer rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to deny them such basic rights as the liberty to raise a family because they are poor, is barbaric.

No, I do not support the socialist system. I am not saying our government should use our tax dollars to pay for these people. But to sit in judgment over those less fortunate than ourselves and pretend that makes us superior is horrific.

Bob NH, I have to tell you man, thats a pretty narrow minded way of thinking. You might as well just say that the only way to fix the problem is to kill off most of the population and start over if your going to think like that. Tell me though, who lives and who dies? Then tell me who gets to decide? Not only that but also who gets to pick the ones who decide?

Bob, there are ghettos all over the world. Where you live, north or south, east or west, this country or that really doesent matter. Its your mind set that matters. How badly do you want to be better than you are right now? Can you make the best of what you have in your life? How many fcuked up rich people do we see and hear about in the news every day? Should they be allowed to have children just because they have money? Please give me a break.

I graduated from a top rated catholic highschool, obtained a bachlors in college and held a job that kept my family above the poverty line. All because I wanted my family grow and enjoy life as I allways have in Louisiana. Now due to the recession that our jack hole pesident has caused I no longer have this job and it's becoming harder each day to find work. Then add the current disaster in the Gulf that is only getting worse due to the jack hole forceing a moratorium on drilling (that cuts jobs, closes thousands os business and makes us even more dependant on forigen oil) and you have a recipe for economic death of the southern states that is as toxic as the oil that is killing the environment and wildlife.

Don't belive me? Take a look at how the Valdieseffected Alaska. That was only one tanker, the country was not in an economic recession and it did not stop tanker operations or destroy hundreds of business related to the industry thus crippling the entire region. Ten years later and the area is still showing scaring from the incident. How long do you think it will take the entire Gulf coast states to recover from a well head that ran unchecked for almost four months?

My point is this, not all people who live in poverty are trying to take advantage of others. Just because you haven't fallen on bad times yet doesen't mean you won't. What will you do then? No matter how good or bad things are they can always get worse.

My wife and three sons are well aware of our financial situation, as well as the very real possability that things could get worse. We spend more time together and less on things that advertisers tell us we can't live without. What we haven't done though is give up.

I also have a problem with news articles that don't back up their story. This one was fairly easy to check though. Here's the link to the organization that did the study. Their website has criteria and data used in the study. I hope you find it useful.

http://www.aecf.org/

Bob, I'm not sure why you expect a news organization to tell you everything you could possibly know about every given subject in every story. That's not what deadline journalists do. (esp. at a wire service with constant deadlines and feeds all across the nation). If you want to know more than this 12-18 inches of copy, there's this thing called the internet....

geez, talk about blaming the messenger.

Getting sicker and more feeble by the day!

Contrary. I think a lot of the American population has an inferiority complex about their relative lack of education and so they wage war against intellectualism.

only GOD can love a person who believes himself to be an intellectual.

Just because you stop and think doesn't mean your intellectual. Even idiots stop and look both ways before crossing the street (so as not to be run over by Barry's bus).

only GOD can love a person who believes himself to be an intellectual.

So very true. That's great!

Handgunner.

That'd be "you're" intellectual. Glad you didn't get hit by that bus, though.

Why don't we look into which states have the lowest IQ's? This is JUST ABOUT the dumbest comment I have ever seen.

Yes I mean really, the IQ level behind this statement has to be low. First it makes no sense or have anything to do with the topic. Not to mention why would someone come on here and talk about other people when they cant even spell simple words correctly. Next topic should be "TOP STATES NEEDING HOOKED ON PHONICS!". Clone.....how about cologne. Get a dictionary seriously.

are you retarted....

It's cologne. Fat will triumph over stupid any day.

Actually, AP published a different survey a few weeks ago about the most obese states, and New Mexico was not anywhere near the bottom, as they are here. I agree that obesity is an epidemic in this country, but a comment like this only exacerbates the problem. Offer a well thought out comment and be a part of the solution rather than putting others down and making faulty assumptions.

So in other words, only 5-10 percent of the population should reproduce? I don't have 2.5 million in the bank, but I also don't live anywhere near the poverty line and I don't receive any kind of welfare benefits. Just because someone has a large family does not automatically qualify them for government money.

is that why they call it the 'green mountain state'.

Apparently you are from one of the dumb states: Vermont is the Green Mountain State, NH is the Granite State

NH's not the Green Mountain State- it's the Granite State. Vermont is the Green Mt. State.

oops, brain fart. not dumb state, state of temporary dumbness

Once again, Momof 5-2 has made a wonderful point. Only those that have that much money can reproduce? Again...go to China. You beg for your freedom, yet reject it when the ugly comes out. Just because some people may be irresponsible does not mean you can say that only certain people should have children and how many.

Socialism anyone?

I can't even type in m a s s h o l e. Lame

matt, yeah no kidding. I was born and raised in Derry and had to move out because of all the m a s s h o l e s screwing up the town. They bought houses they couldn't have afforded in MA without looking at the property taxes and then were outraged at the cost. They banded together and gutted the town budget. Thank god Pinkerton Academy didn't cow-tow to the pressure and ruin the students education because of a bunch of shortsighted idiots. Sorry, buyer beware - do your homework and look at the actual cost of home ownership not just the sticker price.

I used to hear the same thing in Oregon. It was all about those California-types who bought property there and then immediately began to turn utopia into hell-on-earth. Sounds like your problem is identical to that in Oregon.

Let me ask you the identical question I asked the noble and perfected humans known as Oregonians. Who sold the property to those m a s s h o l e s? I'm going out on a limb here, but I'll bet the answer is New Hamsters. Give it a rest.

GuyO'Teen - are you proposing that American citizens ought to be restricted from traveling freely in America from state to state? And you attack liberals for trying to infringe on freedoms?

Just wondering.

David...the seller had no idea the MA residents would destroy the school system. Unless you actually lived in Derry then your opinion is irrelevent. I, on the other hand was born and raised in Derry and saw firsthand the affects of the explosion of residential property vs. business. I don't blame MA people exclusively, the selectmen and zoning boards share some of it. But it was the MA transplants that didn't research the property tax rate, that voted down the school budget that would give THEIR kids a good education along with ours and that put in place on the various municipal boards people that shared their views. At the same time, they were preventing businesses that could offset the taxes because they liked the "small town" feeling Derry had. By the time they realized they were screwed, all they could attract was Wal-Mart and all that did was run the little guys out of business. Some survived out of loyalty but many more failed because those very people that loved the "small town" feeling shopped at Wal-Mart instead of supporting their neighbor. Not exactly the kind of person I would want moving next door.

@ David Walker. My original post was meant to sarcastic. We in NH have a love/hate relationship with people from MA, mostly hate. They inject alot of money into our economy because they all come to buy things in NH because we have no sales tax. But alot of us in NH hate them because of their snobby attitudes towards "cow-hampshire" and their inability to drive. Southern NH is gradually becoming more and more like MA as many people are moving up here because its cheaper and the NH culture is gradually changing. NH is awesome and its too bad that not many people know much about it.

How do you come with your figures? Thin air? Daycare expenses alone are more than 120$ a week. You may want to go over your numbers again as they are wrong.

108K seems very low. My teenage boy eats more than $120 worth of food a week! And don't forget college costs!

Several years ago when my son was 10, out of couriosity after reading that number, I did a two month study on Quicken to see how much money we were spending on him. It averaged to around $400.00 a week. Thats with clothes, food, school supplies (it was August), medical/dental expenses, daycare/after school care, and overhead (I had to guess at electricity, water and so on). So I guess that was $345,600.00 from age 1 to 18 which was under.

Now he is in university and we have added tuition, insurance on his truck, more expensive school supplies, etc..

I love and adore my son, but WOW, I'm so glad I only had one.

Google is a wonderful thing:

Cost to Raise a Child is $291,570

The U.S. Agriculture Department says the cost to raise a child to age 18 is $291,570. Reuters reports that this figure does not include the cost of childbirth or college.

The estimate covers food, shelter and other necessities for a child to age 18, said the annual report by the Agriculture Department. The figure does not include the cost of childbirth or college.

Housing accounts for one-third of expenditures on children. Food accounts for 16 percent, the same as child care and education, said the Expenditures on Children by Families report.

Last year, the USDA estimated it would cost $269,040 to raise a child born in 2007 to age 18, including inflation. The USDA has made the estimates since 1960, when the estimated cost was $25,300. The department said it planned to have an updated "Cost of Raising a Child Calculator" on the Internet soon.

The USDA's "Cost of Raising a Child Calculator" will be available here when it finally launches. The site says it is "coming soon."

When I was in high school, I was told if I wanted a car, I would have to get a job and buy it myself.

When I went to college, I was told that I either needed to keep my scholarship, or pay for it myself.

My family could afford to pay for these things for me, but choose not to. They did keep me on their insurance while I was in school only because it did not cost them any more since they had my younger brother on the plan (it was the same price whether I was on the plan or not.) Other than one summer quarter (yes, I know most colleges are on a semester system, but mine was on the quarter system) where my parents paid for 1/2 of my books (almost $400), they have not paid anything for me to go to college. I did not qualify for Pell grants because they made too much money, but they also did not just hand over money to me all the time either. I think it made me who I am today. I have a greater work ethic than a lot of the people around me. I believe I have more character and honesty as well. Just because you CHOOSE to pay tuition and you CHOOSE to pay for vehicles and insurance does not mean it really costs that much to raise a child.

I have been to birthday parties where the parents invite everyone in the class, and then after school daycare and there ends up being 40-50 kids at the party. It never fails that kids get upset because the birthday boy is only interested in 5 or 6 that showed up. I know an only child that has 2 game-boys and about 5 other gaming systems. His parents CHOSE to buy him all of those and he is one bad @$$ kid. I get compliments either from the waitress or other diners every time we take the kids out to eat (keep in mind, they range from age 2-8). They realise that if they don't behave when we go, they will be left home the next time. Why people think you have to shower your kids with gifts to make them happy is insane to me. Although we can afford it, we have not bought a bigger house and our kids share rooms. Studies have shown that when kids share rooms as young children, they are less likely to get divorced. People spending too much money for stuff they don't need is one of the reasons why the US economy is going into the toilet.

Game boys are not part of this equation/estimate - this was clothing, food, education, day care, health care- it did not count college costs or buying them a car or expensive toys. It was a fairly conservative estimate.

jhayes, have you ever hear dof a stay at home mom. The majority of moms in our middle class neighborhood are stay at home moms, in other words NO DAYCARE expenses. It's tough to consider daycare as part of the equation when so many don't need or use it.

As for the poster who said it cost $400 a week, you must give your kids ALOT of luxuries and send them to provate school. I make a very good living and i can tell you exactly what my bills are and how much things cost. I have three kids, my oldest plays hockey (very expensive sport) and my costs are not $400 per week TOTAL for all three kids and my kids have alot of luxuries. I think some of you confuse what needs are and luxuries are and don't have a clue what poverty is.

When calculating you can't take your whole grocery bill and say that is the total for the week, that doesn't work that way. Nor can you you take your mortgage or rent into accoutn (or were you planning on living in a box if you didn't have kids). To me the cost of a child is the EXTRA expense over and above what I wouldn't be paying for myself and my wife. You are goig to have the same basic electircity bill with or without kdis so that is not the cost of a child. Personalyl I would be living in the same size house with or without my kids so the mortgage is not a child related expense. IF I buy a box of cheerios I know "ill be eating my fair share of the box so I can't count the whole box as a child expense. My cable bill for TV viewing is not child related at all because I would have that with or without kids. We have wonderful public schools here, (FYI private school is not a necessity, it's a luxury) but we have public schools which are better than the private schools in the area so I personally don't know anyone who sends their kid to private school so school expenses are quite low here. The US Ag report shown above is complete BS because it says that shelter is 1/3 of the expense, how can that be, where would these people be living without their kids, shelter should account for zero for most people. IT also mentiones that it is adjusted for inflation. IT's a crap method. Every situation is different BUT the cost of the child is only that which is not already an expense for yourself. My $120 per week per kid is very real and based on careful accounting, it does not include college, it does not include auto insurance for kids, it does not include birthday presents, extracirricular activities or daycare, those are all "luxuries" that are not "necessities" to raising a child no matter what one thinks. I save a decent amount for college for my kids, my kids all play sports, all go to a good school, we live in a four bedroom 2.5 bath house etc.. etc.. and I cna tell you even with all the luxuries my three kids in total do not cost me more than $30,000 per year total for all three kids. Those who think it costs more need ot get a handle on things in their budget or need to move to a more economically feasible part of the country (remember, you don;t have to live in NY City, or Los Angelas etc...)

My father was mechanic who did not graduate highschool. He had more honesty and character and work ethic than anyone I know. He and my mother raised 4 kids. So, I had to work my way through college (it took 9 years with a full time job). It was frustrating and exhausting. Do I have more character and honesty than my father? I think we are about the same. So I CHOOSE not to have my son go through that. He will graduate with a Masters in two years and I could not be more proud, of him, me and my Dad.

Right Savik, I also choose to do those things for my kids. But those types of choices should not be misconstured by articles and commentray fo other people into making others believe that it costs more than it really does to raise a child. I know many people who mkae household incomes of roughly $50,000 per year total family income. They have a decent home, pay their bills, and have three kids and things are tight sometimes but they also are not in debt up to their knees either. Based on the numbers some of you are putting out there how could these people possibly do that?/ The answer si they couldn't if you believe what you are saying. But they do so something must be off, my guess is it is your numbers

Even those basic expenses are according to one person's standards. I stay at home with my kids, shop clearance sales for clothes, buy food in bulk from local farmers, etc.

Something I notice about the lower-ranking states is that they are the hottest, temperature-wise. Could this be a contributing factor?

Once again. REAL MOTHERS are the ones giving the correct information...unbelievable is the one with the real deal.

It isn't the same for every single person for how much it costs to raise their kids, that is why it is an average, your state, the diet you feed your children, rural or urban, these all effect how much it costs to raise your child. The food you buy in middle of nowhere Nebraska vs. NYC are different costs, so is the cost of rent, same as if you have more than just the parents and child living in a house. Also, unbelieveable, you may be a stay home mom, most mother are not, they pay for daycare.

This is the whole reason why it is an AVERAGE and an ESTIMATION vs the absolute cost of a child. You may be on the lower end, other people spend over 10 times that amount on their children. They are not going through the grocery list saying oh that's cereal that counts as a child expense, they average the cost of food among the people in the family based on eating habits on average.

Finally, education has a cost, private and public schools. unbelieveable VS unbelievable

Bitter?

Swampcat,

I take it that you are a republican and that you don't care about anyone else but yourself and the corporations your party supports. Would that be the point of your comment?

Why would you waste eveyone's time, that is anyone who cares, with such an idiotic response. Maybe you should care more about health and society, less about making your voice of nonsense heard. The world would be better for it.

I concur. I'm from California and we see many booger eaters here but New York takes the cake.

airialand, I hope he is a republican, at least he has humor and you must be dem. cause you don't have any humor. dems are always looking for a handout and never satisfied with what they have, want the gov to give them more for free.

Cindy, the world is better with humor and less socialist agenda.

hey I hear boogars are low in fat and can take inches off youyr @$$.

NH actually is on track to have a budget surplus, and the crime rates are relatively low. NH is really a pretty awesome place to live.

Unfortunately if you look at the top (1600) ranked public high schools in the US - only one of them is in NH. We are blessed with lots of great private schools however.

Partly that may be a result of the size of the population? Often times the "top" public schools are in huge cities that have awful public schools on the average but a couple schools wehre they only let in the kids who score super high on aptitude tests. Then guess what? Those schools rank high. But the 'average' school in that state is still a pit.

Also, apparently the citizens of New Hampshire have little problem sending their kids to the excellent private school since they live in a state which doesn't take take their money in taxes and then force them into a crappy private school...like in CA and NY and all the other places with sky high state taxes and a terrible quality of life for kids.

OH, I almost forgot, NH not only has ZERO sales taxes it also has ZERO state income taxes! No wonder the kids are having a better life.

I think most people would be horrified by our property taxes - we are not quite a "tax free" state. And most of the property taxes go to the public schools - which I think for the most part - at least in our experience are sub par. So we get to pay for the crappy public schools and private schools!

I don't disagree however that NH is a great state to raise a family. I don't think however it's related to our lack of tax burden :)

Hollis.

patbrausuz...sounds like the way to go is bring your family to NH for the safe, high quality, healthy child, tax free new england life...and rent the house. Plus pat, in California we pay 11% state tax, plus city tax, plus almost 10% sales tax for REALLY crappy public schools where your kid can be stabbed for their lunch money and never hear english. So then after losing all your money for taxes you get to pay another 15-25 thousand per year for a safe, decent public school. Lovin' New Hampshire yet?

For those interested in the top public high schools in the country...http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2010/americas-best-high-schools/list.html

You're right Guy...but isn't it all worth it if one day they vote for Barry?

Ummm, not so sure that is a conclusion that can be drawn from this. No income tax = no sales tax? Then you should see oregon in second. And you don't, it's in 18th.

I never said I wanted to live anywhere else :) There are pros and cons - and would really like to see the schools improve - even though i send my son to private school. Of course usually the answer given for education is throw more money at it - which doesn't solve the problem.

smart pat...might be joining you soon.

Carpen, Oregon has income tax. It's Washington State that has no state income tax isn't it? New Hamshire has neither income tax nor sales tax.

I know. We also have property tax. I am saying it is rediculous to make the assumption that it is your lack of taxes that is a reason that your kids are the healthiest.

It would be an interesting study to see if there is any coorelation between lower taxes and the health and quality of living of children in the state. My guess is more money for the families means better life for the children.

So how do you explain Alaska at #38, since they also don't have state sales or income tax? Correlation does not equal causation.

I am pretty sure there is absolutely no correlation between lower taxes and healthier children as MN is rated as #2 for healthiest kids and we are one of the heavier taxed states.

Kyle,

California also plays the same shinnanigans with the car registration. In N.H. you didn' t pay the original 3K sales tax on that 30K car so it takes a hell of a lot of registration fee's to get up to the amount. And, as I said, we do the registration scam every year too. Plus super high sales tax and state, and city, etc. etc. We supposedly pay less on property tax but my property tax is more than most peoples rent.

Let's see if I've got the game straight. So it looks like if you move to N.H. with a late model Toyota Land Cruiser and rent the house you're maximizing the benifits of the no state and no sales tax and high quality of living approach?

Kyle, don't forget the 18 miles of beach!!!

Oceans pretty damn cold in Southern California too but at least the air is warm when you get out and pull the hypodermic needles out of your skin because it's filled with medical waste and sewage.

newton, you've got it made if you do just what you posted haha, drive an oldie and rent. and ya the beaches aren't to shabby haha thanks for reminding me Aniki

Enjoy Kyle. :-)

I'm sold. I'm moving to NH!! It's got to be better than Kan@ss and the phelps.

Any landlord factors in their expenses when renting out their property. One way or another that tax will be your expense, renting or owning.

We've worked hard to find out how to pay more taxes than anyone, with the least input on how they're spent -- Buy a home in Westchester County NY (highest property taxes in the country), then buy a second home in Cape Cod Mass. For that privilege, you get to pay property taxes in two states, one of which you can't vote in, AND Mass. wants to tax second homeowners for renting their homes to help pay the mortgages - so those who are not subject to this tax get to vote it in, and those who have to pay it have no opportunity to vote against it. Didn't they have a an issue in Boston the last time this happened? Something about a Tea Party?!

@TaxMeTill - Friend, those are choices you made. You CHOSE to buy/live in Westchester, and to buy a second home in Cape Cod. No one held a gun to your head and said, "You must live a conspicuous consumerist lifestyle, or we'll kill you." I refuse to feel badly for you because you pay a lot of taxes on your SECOND HOME. If you don't want to pay taxes on it, sell it. Don't be spouting sessionist Teabagger BS just because you made expensive choices and now don't want to pay the piper.

They have very large red-neck populations too. Is it related?

Maybe you should scroll up a tad and see my very long set of comments written specifically for people like you.

Your comment was very objective and to the point. Thank you for being brave enough to state the obvious.

I live in Texas too and all you have to do is look around at all the fat a***ed smokers here to figure out what kids see and how they may feel about adopting unhealthy lifestyles.

Well Floyd they were done screwing up there State so they had to move on so they could "fix" another one.

floyd...we move south because after 20 years of NE winters you can't wait to live somewhere that doesn't have a wind chill factor below zero....

The people from the Northern states that I know are moving South are doing so because of taxes, but I also come from New York State, and that is the #1 or #2 reason for leaving (along with the cold).

So you think being in a good marriage together with your spouse in a concentration camp would add up to happy?

Well some of the data points used in the study are teen pregnancy and high school drop out rates. I know here in NH we have a great health education program - that includes age appropriate sex education. Our teen pregnancy rate is pretty low.

It was never really an argument. They just want control of your money.