While Hawai'i ranks fourth nationally for its low dropout rate, the percentage of teens not working or attending school puts the state's idle teen rate among the nation's worst.

The increase in idle teens and other setbacks in general child well-being have dropped the state to 24th from 20th in the annual Kids Count report released Tuesday by the Baltimore-based Anne E. Casey Foundation.

The report ranks the 50 states and the District of Columbia on several factors, including the percentage of low-birthweight babies; death rates for children and teens; teen birth rates; and the number of children living in single-family households or in poverty.

Poverty was the focus of this year's study, which compared data from 2000 and 2003. During that period the number of Hawai'i children living in poverty increased 13 percent. That leaves an estimated 15 percent of children in poverty, making the state slightly better than the national average of 18 percent.

Marika Ripke, project director for Kids Count in Hawai'i, said the state's high cost of living could play a part in the increase, since high rent costs could be putting more homeless families on the street.

"I personally think it's the lack of affordable housing ... creating these financial situations for families here," she said.

Hawai'i did make progress in three areas. The percentage of children living in families where no parents had full-time year-round employment declined to 33 percent in 2003 from 41 percent in 2000. In addition, between 2000 and 2002, the teen birth rate dropped by 17 percent, and the infant mortality rate decreased by 10 percent.

Although the percentage of teens dying between ages 15 and 19 worsened by 2 percent from 2000 to 2003, the state still has the second-lowest teen death rate in the country.

Teens in Hawai'i also are more likely to stay in school, with the state having the country's fourth-lowest dropout rate.

Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said while it is difficult to consistently compare state dropout rates, it makes sense that Hawai'i would have a low dropout rate.

In Hawai'i, students are required by law to remain in school until age 18, while many other states only require students to attend until they are 16. "We have perhaps a stronger emphasis in the state on staying in school," he said. "Compulsory education until age 18 doesn't make it easy for a student to just leave."

Knudsen said the limited data available to the DOE indicates that students tend to drop out to work, but the Kids Count data indicates that dropouts tend not to be gainfully employed.

Hawai'i has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of teens ages 16 to 19 not working or not attending school.

"The majority of our teens are staying in school compared to the rest of the states, but the ones that do drop out are not finding jobs," Ripke said.

She suggests that more support is needed at home and at school to keep kids in class, but if a teen decides to no longer attend school, there should be a system in place to help him find a job or have job training.

Correction: The percentage of Hawai'i children who live in poverty increased from 13 percent in 2000 to 15 percent in 2003, according to the annual Kids Count survey. A previous version of this story contained incorrect information.