A new report reveals that children in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas are still doing worse overall compared to kids in other states. The 2025 Annie E. Casey Foundation Data Book ranks Arkansas 45th in the nation for child well-being, Louisiana 49th, Oklahoma #46th and Texas 44th by tracking 16 different factors.
As Little Rock Public Radio Reports, among those factors, Arkansas ranks 45th for economic well-being with more than one in five children living in poverty. According to Pete Gess, the economic policy director with the non-profit group Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF), the state’s poverty rate dropped about 5% since 2019. But Gess says Arkansas is still moving at a slower pace than others. “All states, the country as a whole, has made progress. And our progress is slower than most states. So, while we’ve decreased by 5% over that period, the national average is 6%. And nationally, 16% of kids live in poverty, so our 21% is far higher than that.”
The executive director of the AACF, Keesa Smith-Brantley, says while they try not to compare the state’s rankings from year to year, Arkansas’ consistently low performance is concerning. “It is absolutely worth nothing that Arkansas continues to be ranked as one of the bottom 10 states every time this report comes out. And one of the reasons that we assert that that continues to happen is that we are not making the same level of investment and basic needs and in critical programming as other states that have moved up that list.” Smith-Brantley says she’s also worried about the impact of federal budget cuts. She fears those cuts could threaten the nation’s safety net of social services like Medicaid and SNAP.
As for the contributing factors in the rankings of Louisiana and Texas, a common thread is also seen with economic well-being. Based on the latest data available from 2023, 25% or one in four children living in poverty. Meanwhile, the share of Texas children living in poverty fell from 27% in 2011 to 18% in 2023. The Full Kids Count 2025 Data Book is available online at AACF.org.
