Louisiana once again performs poorly in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s child well being ranking. The state ranks 49th, finishing ahead of only New Mexico. Annie E. Casey Foundation president Lisa Hamilton says the state has only made a slight improvement in the percentage of children living poverty and federal assistance may have played a role.
“The child’s tax credit which was expanded during the pandemic helps a lot of people and those trends in economic well-being hold true for Louisiana as well,” said Hamilton.
According to the report, 26% of Louisiana children live in poverty as of 2020.
Hamilton says The Kids Count Data Book also discovered the incidence of anxiety and depression among kinds spiked with 12-percent of kids nationally struggling to make it through the day, a 26% increase from 2016.
“That gives us a lot of concern, children have been through a lot over the last few years from dealing with poor social distancing and pandemic deaths,” said Hamilton.
The report says as of July 2022, over 200-thousand kids nationwide have lost a parent or primary caregiver to the coronavirus.
Hamilton also says Louisiana ranks low when it comes to the physical health of children.
Child and teen deaths are up, obesity up and more babies are being born at low birthrate,” said Hamilton.
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