Kentucky ranks 40th in the nation in over-all child well-being, according to the national 2010 “Kids Count Data Book”, released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The annual publication uses available data to measure the educational, social, economic, and physical well-being of children in each state.
According to Kentucky Youth Advocates, a non-partisan, non-profit children’s advocacy organization, the Data Book reveals that Kentucky improved on four of the 10 measures affecting child well-being since 2000; infant mortality rate, child death rate, teen death rate and percent of teens not in school or not high school graduates. On three other measures, conditions have worsened since 2000; percent of low birth-weight babies, percent of children in poverty, and percent of children in single parent families.
Kentucky’s improvement on mortality indicators is in line with national trends.
Kentucky childrencontinue to rank poorly on economic indicators. Since 2000, the rate of children living in poverty increased 5 percent, with 23 percent living in poverty in 2008. In 2008, one third of Kentucky’s children lived in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment. While the number cannot be compared to previous years’ data, Kentucky currently ranks 48th in the nation on this indicator.