LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) – A recent study found Kentucky is among the worst for child welfare in the United States.
The State of America’s Children 2021 report found that 1 in 7 children or about 14.5% of children were living in some kind of poverty. The Wallethub study found the Bluegrass state had the 10th most underprivileged children in the United States.
“Some states address the problems of underprivileged children better than others,” the report said. “To determine where children are most disadvantaged, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 27 key indicators of neediness. Our data set ranges from the share of children in households with below-poverty income to the child food-insecurity rate to the share of maltreated children.”
Wallethub said Kentucky ranked below average in seven key metrics; Kentucky ranked 4th in percentage of maltreated children, 7th in percentage of children in homes below the poverty line, 11th in percentage of children in foster care, 13th in infant mortality rate, 15th in percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated, 16th in child food-insecurity, 18th in percentage of children in single-parent homes.
Kentucky’s lowest ranking metric for the high percentage of maltreated children has been an issue lawmakers have been attempting to address, by expanding family preservation services and spending more on child welfare systems.
