ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas ranks 45th in the country for child poverty, according to data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Over the years, the progression in numbers for child poverty in the state of Arkansas has made little improvement.
"The poverty rate for children has remained unchanged over the past five years and unchanged since 2019, our sort of benchmark year," Pete Gess with the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) said. "That is 22% of children who are living in poverty in this state and this places Arkansas 45th overall."
According to the 2022 KIDS COUNT Data Book, parents' employment and income levels are directly linked to kids' and teens' education and literacy levels, health and death rates, teen pregnancies, and more. That makes it hard for them to break the cycle of poverty when they become adults.
"If a child is growing up in poverty, there's a strong likelihood that they will equally be impoverished as they grow up," Keesa Smith with AACF said. "It is very concerning to see the number of parents that continue to be impoverished or live right at the poverty line."
Data from the report shows about 42,000 children in the River Valley and around 26,000 children in Northwest Arkansas live in poverty. In Arkansas, 11% of teens between the ages of 16 and 19 are not attending school or working, ranking us last in the nation.
Additionally, 2022 was recorded as the deadliest year for teens in Arkansas. The high number of deaths are attributed in part to suicides connected to mental health concerns, and guns getting into hands that are too young to handle them.
So how do we combat the issue? Smith says the answer is investing.
"The first and foremost that we should be looking at is our investment in health, and making sure that individuals not only have insurance coverage but that they have access to medical attention," Smith said. "And, more importantly, mental health services because children really are suffering a lot."
Smith adds that education is as equally as important as health.
"The state of Arkansas has made some recent investments in education and we hope to see improvement with our children's educational attainment as a result of that," Smith said. "But one of the things that we did not see and have not seen for years is a heavy investment in early childhood education."
According to the press call to debrief the data, AACF calls on the legislature to avoid tax cuts and reinvest that money in the advancement of children and families in the state.
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