A new annual report found children’s well-being has slipped in Rhode Island despite previous gains.
The state ranks 19th in this year’s Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count Data Book, released this week. While it improved in education, Rhode Island reverted to pandemic-era levels in terms of families’ economic well-being. The data show more parents lack secure employment and more families are feeling the state’s high housing-cost burden.
Paige Parks, executive director of Rhode Island Kids Count, said investing in programs serving low-income families can benefit children’s well-being.
“Investments in our early childhood system, including high-quality and affordable child care, investment in our early learning system, can really help more families be able to get into work and to have jobs where they are able to have higher costs of living,” Parks explained.
While the state is making necessary investments, it is still feeling the effects of the pandemic. Rhode Island had placed sixth among the states for kids’ health but now ranks 16th, largely the result of Medicaid coverage ending for some families after the pandemic. From 2019 to 2023, 12% of kids in the state lost their health insurance. It is also due to childhood obesity increasing throughout the pandemic and an increase in child and teen deaths.
Nationwide, there was a 5% increase in the number of teens ages 16-19 not in school or working.
Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said it is a critical stage lawmakers must prioritize.
“With things like internships and apprenticeships, stronger, and in some cases, alternative education so that they have an opportunity to thrive and to move forward from education and into the workforce,” Boissiere urged.
Rhode Island has bucked the trend, with more teens working or in school but the state did a little worse in terms of high school students not graduating on time.
Report: RI child well-being falls despite efforts to improve it was originally published by the Public News Source and is republished with permission.