New Mexico

Poverty and Quality of Life

As in other states, quality of life, including access to health care, is closely related to poverty and varies among the ethnic groups. According to Ipas, 29 percent of New Mexico's Hispanic residents are poor, as compared to 23 percent of African American residents, 13 percent of Caucasian residents, and 36 percent of residents of other races (which includes Native Americans).

The teen fertility rate is much higher among Hispanics (83.8 per 1,000 live births), other races (65.7 per 1,000), and African American residents (44.2 per 1,000) as compared to Caucasians (32.4 per 1,000). Hispanics and Native Americans are disproportionately likely to be uninsured and are less likely than Caucasian women to begin prenatal care in the first trimester. A 2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that New Mexico women ranked near the middle of the 26 states on most indications of prenatal care: however, they reported the highest level of physical abuse (5.8 percent) and among the highest levels of stress (20.6 percent). As in other states, women who were on Medicaid or uninsured reported higher levels of prenatal risk factors such as smoking, maternal obesity, and physical abuse.

The state has a low unemployment rate (3.5 percent, ranking 39th among U.S. states) but a high poverty rate (18.1 percent, ranking third) and low median household income ($41,452, ranking 44th). In 2008, 58 percent of women were in the civilian labor force.

Among the notable mothers from New Mexico are the hall-of-fame golfer Nancy Lopez, who continued to compete on the professional tour while raising three daughters; the Navajo politician and health educator Annie Dodge Wauneka, who raised nine children while working to improve the health and education of the Navajo people (she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor by Lyndon Johnson); and the actresses Kim Stanley (three children) and Demi Moore (three children).

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