Oklahoma shows improvement in children’s well-being; still ranked low

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The latest national report on the well-being of children by the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows Oklahoma has improved its economic, health, education and social factors for children, although the state remains in the bottom 20 percent of the rankings.

The “Kids Count” report released Monday ranks Oklahoma 42nd among the 50 states, an improvement from 44th a year ago. The current ranking is based on data from 2017.

The state showed improvement with lower percentages of children in poverty; low-birth weight babies; the childhood and teen death rate; the teen birth rate and alcohol and drug abuse, and an increase in the percentage of children who have health insurance.

The report also shows an increase in the percentage of children in single parent families.