Kentucky ranks 38th in child well-being, two slots higher than in 2023; latest report shows big jump in child and teen deaths

Table from Kids Count 2024 Data Book

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Kentucky, where nearly one in four people are children, ranked 38th among states for the overall well-being of its children, rising two slots from the last report, according to the 2024 Kids Count Data Book. 

The 35th annual Data Book, released June 10 by Kentucky Youth Advocates and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, rates children's overall well-being through 16 indicators in four major domains: health, economic security, education and family and community.

Overall, Kentucky improved in six of the 16 indicators, but went backward in six others, including all four indicators used to measure education. The most recent data are from 2022. Here's a look at each domain:

Health: Kentucky's health ranking improved to 36th in this year's Data Book, up from 40th last year, even though two of the indicators used to measure health worsened. 

The latest report shows a big increase in the rate of deaths of children aged 2 through 18. It rose to 37 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2022, up from 29 per 100,000 in 2019.

The percentage of low birth-weight babies (less than 5.5 pounds at birth) also inched up to 8.9% in 2022, from 8.7% in 2019. The national average was 8.6% in 2022. 

New data were not available for the percentage of Kentucky's children and teens who are overweight or obese. That rate was 38% in 2021-22, much higher than the national average of 33%. 

As in some prior years, the only good news in the health category was that the percentage of children without health insurance stayed the same in 2022, at 4%. The national rate is 5%, reflecting the fact that 10 states have still not expanded Medicaid as Kentucky has.

Economic well-being: Kentucky ranked 36th in the Economic Well-Being domain, up from 41st last year. Kentucky's children remained the same in two of the indicators used to measure economic well-being, including children living in households with a high housing-cost burden (23%) and teens not in school and not working (8%). The state saw  improvements in the percentage of children living in poverty (21%) and the share of children whose parents lack secure employment (28%). 

Family and Community:  Kentucky ranked 43rd in this domain, down one slot from last year. The state showed improvement in all indicators, including children living in single-parent homes (34%), children in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma (10%), children living in high-poverty areas (11%) and teen births per 1,000. In 2022, there were 22 teen births per 1,000 females aged 15-19. In 2018, that number was 25 per 1,000. In 2022, the national rate was 14 per 1,000. 

Education: Kentucky ranked 33rd in the Education domain, down from 29th in the last report. All four of the indicators to measure education worsened in this report. 

The biggest change was seen in the percentage of eighth graders not proficient in math, increasing to 79% in 2022, up from 71% in 2019. The percentage of fourth-graders not proficient in reading also increased, to 69%, up from 65%. The report also shows that the percentage of children ages 3 and 4 not in school also increased slightly, to 61% in 2018-22, up from 59% in 2013-17. 

“To meet educational milestones, kids of all ages must have what they need to learn – from enough food and sleep, to a safe way to get to school, to supports such as tutoring and mental-health services," Terry Brooks, executive director of KYA said in a news release. "And they must be in schools where there is a qualified and well-supported teacher in every classroom. ” 

The release says learning losses from the Covid-19 pandemic have cost the state decades of progress in education. 

Brooks points to a time in Kentucky when public education was a place where Kentuckians found common ground and that Kentucky schools were the "envy of the nation" in the early 90s. 

"We need to re-claim that legacy. We need to move from where we are – when seemingly public education is the most politized and divisive policy issue in Frankfort – and reclaim the ethos of Kentuckians joining together when it comes to K-12 classrooms,” he said in the release. “That kind of common ground agenda is essential for our children and just as critical in building a strong workforce and economy for the future. That means resources for sure, but it also means engagement by us all and a fundamental restructuring of how we do ‘school’ in Kentucky.”

Further, it points to chronic absences that have increased, particularly among children living in poverty. The Data Book shows that 25% of  the state's children were chronically absent in 2021-22. 

Adverse childhood experiences also effect a child's ability to learn. In Kentucky, the report says 47% of the state's children in 2021-22 had experienced one or more ACEs.

And while the percentage of the state's high-school students graduating on time dropped one percentage point, to 90% in 2020-21, from 91% in 2018-19, that's still better than the national rate of 86%. 

This year's report focuses on how to help children get back on track when it comes to education. 

KYA and the Casey Foundation offer recommendations for how to make sure children can thrive in the classroom, including the need for "access to low- or no-cost meals, a reliable internet connection, a place to study, and time with friends, teachers, and counselors." 

Other recommendations are to deepen investments in school wraparound services to address chronic absences, to expand access to intensive tutoring and to utilize all of the allocated pandemic relief funding to prioritize the social, emotional, academic and physical well-being of students.