Statistics recently released by NC Child show that 74.4% of women in Tyrrell County received early prenatal care in 2015 versus 62.2% in 2011. The statewide rate in 2015 was 67.8%.

Babies in Tyrrell born at a low birthweight stood at 5.1% in 2015, down from 17.8% in 2011. The statewide rate in 2015 was 9.2%.

The data above came from NC Child’s 2017 County Data Card for Tyrrell and North Carolina’s other 99 counties.

The mission of NC Child is to advance public policies that improve the lives of North Carolina’s children, the agency’s website states. “We work statewide to ensure all children are healthy, safe, well-educated, and economically secure by engaging communities, and informing and influencing decision-makers.”

Not so encouraging are data on family economic security.

Tyrrell children living in poor or low-income homes in 2015 was 75.5% versus 65.0% in 2010. The statewide figure for 2015 was 48.9%.

The child food insecurity rate in Tyrrell County in 2014 was 29.5%. Statewide it was 24.6%. Food insecurity is the ongoing struggle to provide consistent and adequate nutrition.

Tyrrell’s unemployment rate in 2015 was 9.5% versus 14.9% in 2011. The statewide figure for 2015 was 5.8% unemployment.

Tyrrell children assessed for abuse or neglect was 38.6 per 1,000 in 2015 and 34.7 per 1,000 in 2011. Statewide child abuse or neglect was 56.5 per 1,000.

High school students in Tyrrell graduating on time was 91.9% in 2016 versus 78.3% in 2012. The statewide graduation on time rate in 2016 was 85.9%.

Tyrrell residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher was 8.0% in 2015 versus 4.6% in 2010. The statewide rate in 2015 was 28.4%.

Tyrrell children under age 19 who were without health insurance was 8.7% in 2015, down from 12.1% in 2011.

The survey also showed that 23.1% of adults 18 to 64 in Tyrrell had no health insurance in 2015, down from 29.3% in 2011. Statewide uninsured adults was 16.2% in 2015.

Infant mortality in Tyrrell was negligible in both 2015 and 2011, whereas the statewide rate was 7.3 per 1,000 live births.

There were 519 Tyrrell children enrolled in Medicaid/NC Health Choice in 2015, up from 514 in 2011.

Child deaths in Tyrrell in 2015 was put at 78.8 per 100,000 population, down from 102.8 in 2013. Statewide figure for 2015 was 57.8.

There were 39 live births in Tyrrell County in 2015 versus 45 in 2011, another indicator of a declining population in what for decades has been the state’s least populous county.

The percentage of Tyrrell children who are under age six was 32.9% in 2015 and 35.4% in 2011. The statewide figure in 2015 was 31.6%.

Of Tyrrell’s estimated 4,217 inhabitants in 2015, 777 were under age 18, the same figure as in 2011.

To learn more about children in Tyrrell and other counties, visit www.ncchild.org.