Study finds Kansas ties for states with most children in foster care
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A recent study has found Kansas tied with four other states for those with the most children in foster care as it analyzed which states had the most underprivileged children.
With the month of August dubbed Child Support Awareness Month and nearly 1 in 7 children in the nation living in poverty, personal-finance website WalletHub.com says it released its report on Aug. 10 on 2022′s States with the Most Underprivileged Children.
In order to bring awareness to the condition of underprivileged children in the U.S., WalletHub said it compared all 50 states and Washington, D.C., across data sets which range from the share of children in a home with below-poverty income to child food insecurity rates to the share of maltreated children. The lower a state is ranked, the more privileged its children are.
Kansas came in 31, signifying it is in the half of states with the most privileged children. The Sunflower State scored 40.52 overall and ranked 36th for socioeconomic welfare, 28th for health, and 26th for education.
However, neighbors to the south, Oklahoma, seemed to have one of the worst child welfare systems in the nation. Oklahoma came in as the state with the 6th most underprivileged children with a total score of 56.63, a socioeconomic welfare rank of 11, a health rank of 5 and an education rank of 10.
Kansas’ neighbors to the east did not fair much better. Missouri ranked 18th overall with a total score of 48.31, a socioeconomic welfare rank of 13, a health rank of 27 and an education rank of 22.
However, both the Sunflower State’s neighbors to the north and east seemed to have more figured out. Colorado ranked 41st overall with a total score of 34.08, a socioeconomic welfare rank of 45, a health rank of 39 and an education rank of 21. Nebraska ranked 43rd overall with a total score of 31.42, a socioeconomic welfare rank of 48, a health rank of 33 and an education rank of 43.
The study found the states with the most underprivileged children include:
- Mississippi
- West Virginia
- Alaska
- New Mexico
- Louisiana
The study found the states with the least underprivileged children include:
- New Jersey
- Utah
- Connecticut
- Virginia
- New Hampshire
The study also found that Kansas tied with West Virginia, Alaska, Montana and Rhode Island for states with the most children in foster care. Meanwhile, Colorado was found to have the fifth-fewest children in single-parent families as well as the fourth-lowest percentage of children in homes below the poverty line.
The report indicated that Missouri was also found to be the state with the fifth-lowest percentage of maltreated children while Colorado has the fifth-lowest child food insecurity rate.
For more information or to see where other states fall, click HERE.
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