Michigan is near the middle of the pack in quality of life and health care rankings for women and children, according to the 2024 Health of Women and Children Report by the United Health Foundation. It places Michigan 30th in it’s ranking of the quality of life of the state’s women and children.
Michigan ranked among the worst in the country when it comes to certain health issues. Michigan is 42nd in terms of excessive drinking among women. When it comes to having more than one chronic condition, Michigan's women were 40th.
Michigan women received low rankings in High-Risk HIV behaviors (39th) depression (37th), Diabetes (32th) and high blood pressure (36th).
The state also struggles in childhood health rankings. Michigan is 41st in fourth grade reading proficiency and 39th in adverse childhood experiences. These include experiences with divorce, death, discrimination, domestic violence or illness.
“When you have an adverse childhood experience, such as a child who's living in extreme poverty, or a child who is in an abusive home or a child who doesn't have enough to eat, that affects the way that their brain can develop,” said Leann Espinoza, public information officer at the Luce, Mackinac, Alger, Schoolcraft District Health Department in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Espinoza manages the Maternal Infant Health Program there.
“However, we also know that for every three ACE(s) you have, if you have one positive childhood experience that can help negate those things. So really in the U.P., we have been focusing more on the positive childhood experiences side of things.”
Michigan is ranked 41st in poverty for women and 39th for children. Espinoza touted public policies like Flint’s Rx Kids program. That program provides $1,500 for prenatal care and provides new mothers $500 a month for their babies’ first year.
“That help can negate some of those adverse childhood experiences, because that mom then has a little bit of a foundation,” she said. “A little bit of a cushion to say, ok, I can get through this time and we can move forward as a stable family.”
Espinoza said that, in the U.P., the biggest challenges for public health workers are lack of transportation and communication.
“We have a lot of families that live in remote areas and transportation is hard. You can't just say, ‘oh, well, you could give them a gas card,’ because that family might not have a vehicle to put that gas in,” she said.
“I live in Schoolcraft County, there is not a birthing hospital in Schoolcraft County. Our pregnant women have to travel to either Delta County or Marquette County or Chippewa County to get those OB services,” she added. “In the entire county of Schoolcraft County, we don't have a pediatrician. So, family practice doctors are what we count on here.”
The state of Michigan did receive high marks in other categories, the state finished top in in terms of health care insurance coverage for women (state ranked seventh best) and children (state ranked fifth best).
Michigan has the third lowest rank in terms of youth vaping usage.
