Oklahoma ranks among bottom 10 states in 2021 child well-being report
Jun. 28—Oklahoma ranks among the bottom 10 states in the nation for child well-being, according to a new annual report released last week.
The state rose three places from the previous year's rankings, from 45th to 42nd, according to the new Kids Count report, which is produced by the
In those four categories,
Some key findings from the report include:
— 1 in 5 Oklahoma children — 186,000 — were living in households with an income below the poverty line. Compared to the state average of 20%, an even higher proportion of Black and Latino children live in poverty — 38% and 27%, respectively — compared to 14% of non-Hispanic white children.
— About 86,000 children, roughly 9%, in
— 95,000
— And many
The report shows some improvements in
"Our improvements just aren't enough to compete," she said. "So our rankings are continuing to decline, and we're continuing to be in the bottom 10 for child well-being."
The well-being of the state's children is crucial, because today's underserved eighth graders will be legal adults in just five years, Jacobi said.
"We're expecting them to be workforce members, parents, volunteers, community leaders," she said. "If we truly want a better future for all of us, we need to start focusing on policies and budget priorities that can ensure a better outcome for children now so that they can reach their full potential."
Jacobi said
"These are evidence-based anti-poverty solutions that we know work and provide families more money that they can spend on rent, on utilities, transportation, groceries, medical care, all those other necessities," she said. "By providing that little extra support, it can stabilize households, it can reduce stress and ultimately trigger reductions in child poverty."
State schools Superintendent
"
"This is another area in
There was also a reduction in the percentage of low birth-weight babies, from 8.4% in 2010 to 8.2% in 2019.
But there is room for improvement in all measures, Marshall said.
"8.2% of low birth-weight infants is 8.2% too many infants," Marshall said, adding that the same goes for other health measures, including rates of uninsured children, child death rates and childhood obesity rates.
The rankings are based on 2019 data, so they don't capture the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
That means, "unfortunately, some of our indicators might look even worse next year, particularly for economic well-being," said Jacobi, of the
One area where future reports may show improvement, however, is the state's number of uninsured children. Since voters opted to expand the state's Medicaid program to low-income adults last year, allowing people eligible under the new guidelines to have coverage as soon as
"As previously uninsured adults start enrolling for health care via expansion, they'll be more likely to enroll their own children in state health care programs such as Medicaid, or CHIP," she said.
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