LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A new study found Arkansas to be among the 15 states with the most underprivileged children.
According to WalletHub, in order to bring awareness to the condition of underprivileged children throughout the U.S. with one in seven children living in poverty, the personal-finance website compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 27 measures of neediness. These include the share of children in households with below-poverty income, child food insecurity rate, and share of maltreated children.
Along with Arkansas, Oklahoma also landed in the top 15 for most underprivileged children. Arkansas landed at No. 11, ranking at #9 for socio-economic welfare, #2 for health, and #29 for education. Oklahoma was listed at No. 6.
The study named Mississippi as the state containing the most underprivileged children, followed by West Virginia, Alaska, New Mexico, and Louisiana. New Jersey was found to have the most privileged.
Individually, Arkansas finished eighth in the percentage of children in households with below-poverty income, third in child food-insecurity rate, fourth in infant mortality rate, and sixth for residents who are fully vaccinated.
To see more individual Arkansas statistics and the rest of the study’s findings, visit WalletHub’s website.