Charleston Gazette-Mail – West Virginia children are faring better in some small ways, but as a whole the well-being of the state’s youth is on a minor decline, according to the 2020 KIDS COUNT data book. Read the full article.
The national data book, released annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, uses 16 factors spread across health, family and community, economics and education to determine the well-being of children in each state. The report includes county-level data for all the national categories, as well as 10 additional factors — listed as emerging well-being indicators — specifically tailored to trends and issues in West Virginia.
This year’s report is based mostly on data from 2018, meaning the far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are not considered in the findings.
“This was all pre-pandemic, so these numbers are not telling you what it’s like right now in West Virginia. That’s the big grain of salt in all of this,” said Sean O’Leary, a policy analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, who worked on the data and policy advisory committee for the 2020 WV KIDS COUNT data book. “Poverty will look a lot different this year. A lot will look different this year, I think.”
