TENNESSEE STATE STATISTICS

Tennessee is at  the bottom of almost every category as compared to other states. We are 42nd in income, 2nd in bankruptcies, 46th in the overall health of its residents. The following list of vital statistics is from Tennessee's web site and can be found in "The State of the Child in Tennessee" section, pages xi and xii.  Our state ranks:

  • 42nd on a three-year average of median household income for 2001-2003 in the 50 states;

  • 39th nationally in state employee average salary - $8,000 below the national average;

  • In the bottom 10 states having the highest percentage of people with disabilities who are not working;

  • 44th in the number of adults ages 25 and older with a bachelors degree;

  • 11th worst on food insecurity;

  • 35th in the percent of children living in poverty;

  •  44th in infant mortality rates;

  • 45th in low-birth weight babies;

  • 46th in overall health of its residents;

  • 45th in math proficiency;

  • 45th in the percentage of per-pupil spending that comes from federal sources;

  • 46th in per-pupil education spending;

  • 10th in the percent of uninsured children in 2001-2002;

  • 41st in teen pregnancy;

  • 41st in households with computers;

  • 42nd in overall crime-rate;

  • 45th in short-term employment growth;

  • 46th in high school attainment;

  • 49th in income distribution;

  • 43rd in high school graduation rates.

Tennessee also reported the following rankings:

  • Nearly 10 percent of its teens ages 12-17 reporting that they used an illicit drug within the month prior to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH);

  • Over a third of its teens ages 12-17 reporting being at great risk of using marijuana at least once per month;

  • 14 percent of its teens reporting using alcohol in the month prior to the survey;

  • 11.2 percent of its teens reporting driving a car under the influence of alcohol within the 30 days prior to the survey (YRBS);

  • An estimated 65,013 youth who have a serious alcohol problem;

  • An estimated 54,802 youth (84.5 percent) who need alcohol and drug treatment and don't get it;

  •  3,169 women, 3,592 children and 171 men who were identified by shelter staff as needing domestic violence shelter or services and were turned away due to a lack of funding;

  • 13.6 percent of public school enrollees under age 21 are classified as special education students;

  • A 20 percent increase in special education students over the past 10 years;

  • Over 6,000 students every year who lose their driver's license due to truancy;

  • Over 11 percent of its households that are food insecure, with 3.3 percent experiencing hunger;

  • 18 percent of its public school students receiving a free or reduced-price breakfast;

  • Need for an estimated 56 additional public defenders to ensure that juvenile defendants have court representation;

  • 68 counties with no Healthy Start program, with immunization rates for those 27 counties with Healthy Start programs at 95 percent, versus 81 percent for those with no Healthy Start program;

  • No Even Start program in 69 counties in the state;

  • 45 percent of its residents under the age of 21 covered by TennCare;

  • Three counties with no dentist available, Grundy, Picket and Van Buren counties;

  • 68 percent of all inmates in the Tennessee Department of Correction system who did not have either a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) or a high school diploma prior to conviction;

  • 80 percent of its citizens over the age of 25 with a high school diploma, compared to the United States at 84 percent;

  • 22 percent of its citizens over the age of 25 with no Bachelor's Degree, compared to the United States, with 26 percent;

  • 15 Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs serving 26 counties with a need for all 95 counties to have services;

  • CASA volunteers who served 3,546 children during FY 2003-2004, giving an estimated 74,104 hours of volunteer time;

  • 25 Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) that are members of the Tennessee Chapter of Children's Advocacy Centers; an additional three CAC Task Forces are in various states of development;

  • More than 6,500 children served by CAC programs during 2003;

  • CAC's working collaboratively with over 149 law enforcement agencies and 23 of the 31 Judicial Districts; there are 22 additional counties that would benefit from having a Child Advocacy Center to provide services;

  • 78,600 children receiving Social Security benefits during 2002, and 25,000 children being lifted above the poverty line as a result of living in a family receiving Social Security benefits.

In another report by the state entitled "Occupations in Health Care, Management, Education, Food Preparation, and Computers and Mathematics Projected to grow in Tennessee for 2006 and 2007" it discusses projected job growth. In the area of goods-producing growth (areas such as manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and mining) Tennessee is projected to produce only 3,400 new jobs for 2006-2007. This is an increase of only 0.3 percent. Comparing this with service- producing job growth, which is estimated to be 73,100 new jobs created, we can see that Tennessee is losing the battle to attract and maintain the better paying jobs. In fact, the report further states that the relative growth of service-providing jobs and the decline of goods-producing jobs is a continuing trend; yet the decline of goods-producing employment in the last few years, some think, is too rapid for stable change. This is referring to the loss of 16% of our manufacturing in the last five years. As you can see, Tennessee needs real leadership to fix all the problems that we have.  

REFERENCES:

1 "The State of the Child in Tennessee", http://www.tennessee.gov
 2 Occupations in Health Care, Management, Education, Food Preparation, and Computers and Mathematics Projected to grow in Tennessee for 2006 and 2007

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