One child advocacy groups says the quality of life for Newark’s kids is worse than it’s been in previous years.

The numbers are staggering according to Cecilia Zalkind from Advocates for Children of New Jersey.

“To have a forty-four percent child poverty level is shocking.”

This year, the organization’s executive director says they expanded their research to include an age group that has been overlooked, newborns through five years old.

“For every ten babies born in Newark, five are going to live in poverty; two are going to live in extreme poverty. Seven out of those ten will live with a single parent. Seven will live with a parent who has a high school diploma or less. Four will be born without prenatal care.”

Mayor Cory Booker says the news is sobering.

“We have got a crisis in this city that I have to be honest with everybody now, very publicly, we are failing our children.”

He’s forming an early childhood policy board to find ways to help Newark’s youngest residents. The Foundation for Newark’s Future, started by Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, is donating a quarter of a million dollar matching grant to help fund those programs.