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When housing costs are too high — accounting for more than 30% of a family’s monthly income — parents and kids alike face challenges. Fortunately, the percentage of kids whose families are grappling with high housing costs continues to fall.

It took 10 years but the percentage of children whose parents lack secure employment has finally fallen back to prerecession levels nationally. It’s also true in most, but not all, states.

Child welfare systems in the United States are increasingly opting to place kids in foster care with families, according to a new data brief from the Casey Foundation. "Keeping Kids in Families" reveals that 86% of kids were placed with families in 2017 — up 5 percentage points from 2007.

This good news, however, arrives with clear caveats.