By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News
The annual Kids Count Data Book on children's well-being, released June 21 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Kentucky Youth Advocates, again ranks Kentucky 37th in the nation for the overall well-being of its children.
The latest data are for 2019, and are largely compared with data from 2010. The report rates children's overall well-being through 16 indicators in four major domains: health, economic security, education and family and community.
Overall, Kentucky saw improvement in 11 of the 16 indicators, did worse in three of them and stayed the same on one. One measure did not show a comparison.
“Though the commonwealth made progress on a number of indicators of child well-being between 2010 and 2019, rankings show we are not making progress as quickly as other states – and that progress is in jeopardy unless federal and state policymakers act boldly to sustain the beginnings of pandemic recovery efforts,” Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, said in a news release.
Nearly one in four Kentuckians are children. Here's a look at each domain.
The report found 37% of Kentucky's children were either overweight or obese in 2018-19, the same as in 2016-17. The national rate is 31%. Kentucky has the highest childhood obesity rate in the nation.
Kentucky continues to have a low rate of children without health insurance, 4%. The national average is 6%. The news release reports that about 45,000 Kentucky children remain uninsured.
Another indicator of children's health is the number of babies that are born at less than 5.5 points. That rate is 8.7% in Kentucky, where it has hovered for years.
The best news in this domain is that 91% of Kentucky high-school students graduate on time.
The bad news is that the number of preschool-aged children not in school increased to 60% in 2017-19, from 57% in 2009-11. And the percentage of fourth-graders not proficient in reading inched up to 65% in 2019, from 64% in 2009.
And though the percentage of eight-graders not proficient in math improved to 71% in 2019, from 73% in 2009, that still means only 29% of the state's eight-graders are proficient in math.
The report shows that the percentage of Kentucky children in poverty dropped to 22% in 2019, from 26% in 2010; children whose parents lack secure employment dropped to 31% from 37%; and teens who are not in school and not working dropped to 8%, from 11%.
In addition, the percentage of children living in households with a high housing cost burden dropped to 23% in 2019 from 32% in 2010. A high housing-cost household is defined as one where more than 30% of monthly household pre-tax income is spent on housing-related expenses, including rent, mortgage payments, taxes and insurance.
Kentucky improved in three of family and community indicators, including teen births, children living in high-poverty areas (15%) and children living in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma (11%).
The number of teen births in Kentucky continues to drop. This year's report shows in 2019, there were 25 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19 in Kentucky. In 2010, that number was 46 per 1,000. The national average is 17 per 1,000.
The percentage of children living in single-parent homes increased to 36% in 2019, from 35% in 2010.
Impacts from the coronavirus pandemic
"We cannot talk about child well-being in any meaningful way in this moment — or address the considerable challenges America’s children and families now face — without discussing the effects of the coronavirus," Lisa M. Hamilton, president and CEO of The Annie E. Casey Foundation, writes in the foreword.
To capture the impact of the last year, the Data Book takes a look at data collected in the Household Pulse Survey, which the report says was conducted in multiple waves since the onset of the pandemic by the U.S. Census Bureau and is the only source of robust national and state data related to the pandemic.
“The supplemental pandemic-era survey data highlighted in the Data Book gives us a clearer picture of how families are faring today, including the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on families of color," said Brooks.
Key findings about Kentucky children in the supplemental report include:
- In 2020, one in five (20%) Kentucky adults with children in their household had little or no confidence in their ability to pay their next rent or mortgage payment, with the highest rates experienced by Black families (40%) and Latinx families (30%). However, by March 2021, the statewide rate was at 15%, suggesting the beginnings of a recovery.
- Fifteen percent of Kentucky households with children reported sometimes or often not having enough food to eat throughout 2020 – a family stressor that hit Black households (26%) and a combination of smaller racial groups (American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian and those of more than one race) the hardest (at 29%). This statistic only slightly improved overall in March 2021 to 13%.
- Additionally, over one in four (26%) Kentucky adults living in households with children felt down, depressed, or hopeless in 2020, with only slight improvement (22%) by March 2021.
“The Commonwealth can and will bounce back from the ripple effects of the pandemic, and a key component of that is ensuring kids and families have the resources to meet basic needs and overcome daily challenges," said Brooks.
Brooks praised the state's leaders for their efforts to support children during the pandemic, including using federal funds to address the pervasive digital divide, supporting our fragile child care sector, and ensuring schoolchildren have access to food while learning at home through the Pandemic-EBT program.
KYA's recommendations call for Congress to make the expansion of the child tax credit permanent and for Kentucky to enact a state-level refundable earned income tax credit; to focus on increasing access to high-quality child care; to utilize federal funds to improve school-based mental health supports for students; to expand its school-based nutrition programs; to allow state employees 12 weeks of paid family leave after the birth or adoption of a child; and to double down on efforts to support families involved in the child welfare system.
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