The 2025 edition of the annual Kids Count Data book is out today.

The book collects information to see how America's children and young adults are doing.

Kentucky Edition's Blake Vickers took a deep dive into the publication to see how the Commonwealth's young people fared.

The U.S. has received its yearly report card on how its children and young adults are faring.

The Kids Count Data Book analyzes the overall well-being of American children by compiling state by state data and for different domains economic well-being, education, health, and lastly, family and community.

This year's edition of the Data Book is a mixed bag for Kentucky.

We're ranked as the 36th state when it comes to overall child well-being.

And, you know, that should bother, every Kentuckian.

That puts us right at the bottom.

Fourth of states.

Kentucky is ranked 34th in economic well-being, 25th in education, 31st in health, and 41st for family and community and education.

The state continues to suffer setbacks in reading and math.

Two out of three fourth graders in Kentucky do not meet minimal standards for reading, and three out of four eighth graders not meeting minimal standards for math.

I hope that those data points about reading and math scare people.

I mean, think about what that means for the workforce in 20 years.

If folks entering the workforce can't do math and can't read.

The most troubling statistic in the report the increase in child deaths in the state.

I think the most heart rendering data point in the whole book is that we've experienced a 23% increase in child mortality rates.

We have 23% more kids dying today than we did four years ago.

We have, an accelerating rate of kids dying not because of illicit drugs they got on the street, but prescribed drugs.

They get out of the medicine cabinet.

And we have another segment of kids who sadly, have suffered death because that gun didn't get stored at home properly.

Well, there are several indicators kids count uses to monitor the status of children.

Brooks says that poverty is the most important in determining their overall health.

Childhood poverty is the singular canary in the coal mine indicator.

How our kids economic status lives influences everything.

It influences academic achievement.

It influences health outcome, it influences family stability factors and how that plays out.

So as long as we continue to have that as a core issue for kids in Kentucky, again, we're 44th in the nation when it comes to economic well-being for kids.

As long as that's the case.

Those other indicators are going to have trouble getting over the top.

I hope that when our lawmakers see that Kentucky ranks 44th in the nation when it comes to childhood poverty, when they recognize that 1 in 5 Kentucky kids woke up living in poverty this morning, that they feel compelled and composed to think about the 2026 budget session.

So while Frankfort has certain opportunities and obligations, folks at home in folks and faith communities and folks in nonprofits also have an opportunity to make a difference for kids for Kentucky edition.

Blake Vickers.

Thank you.

Blake.

According to the Kids County data Book, Kentucky is among the best states in the nation for providing kids with health insurance.

Only 3% of Kentucky's children lack health insurance.