Study: 20 percent of Ohio children live in poverty
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — A new study says one out of every five Ohio children live in poverty.
The "2019 KIDS COUNT" data book, released Monday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, shows that 513,000 kids in the state are impoverished. The report ranks Ohio 23rd nationally in economic well-being and 27th in overall child well-being.
The study also looked at racial and ethnic disparities, determining the amount of Latino youth in Ohio whose parents don't have a high school degree is almost three times as high as white kids, and nearly double, for black children.
"Ohio’s future generation is its most diverse yet, and it is important that we direct our attention to the areas where we have not seen equitable improvements across child well-being indicators by race and ethnicity,” said Tracy Nájera, executive director of Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio. “We must push for policies that level the playing field for all Ohio children.”
Here are the 2019 Ohio rankings:
- 16th in education. With 60 percent of Ohio eighth graders scoring below proficient in math, compared to 67 percent nationally, Ohio is ranked seventh best in the nation — representing a marked improvement from Ohio’s 1990 rate where 85 percent weren't proficient.
- 31st in family and community. In Ohio, 37 percent of children live in single-parent households, a rate that is 13 percentage points higher than 1990. This is higher than the national rate of 34 percent.
- 29th in health. The child and teen death rate in Ohio is worse than it is nationally. Although improved since 1990, it's done so at a slower rate than the national rate, ranking Ohio 34th in the nation in this indicator. The black child and teen death rate in Ohio is slightly higher than the rate for other children.
More information, including the 2019 Data Book, can be found here.
