Kids Count Report – Kentucky

Kentucky kids’ status worsens, report says, By Deborah Yetter, August 31, 2010, Louisville Courier-Journal: “The nation’s economic problems continue to make life harder for Kentucky’s youngest residents, according to a new report by Kentucky Youth Advocates. ‘That should ring an alarm bell for everyone,’ said Terry Brooks, executive director of the non-profit research and advocacy group. ‘It calls for some action.’ The 2010 annual ‘Kentucky Kids Count’ report – released Tuesday – noted that unemployment in Kentucky reached 10.5 percent last year, the state’s highest rate since 1983. Almost one-third of the state’s families in which a parent is employed are considered low-income, or ‘working poor’ and nearly one-fourth of Kentucky children – 23 percent – were living in poverty in 2008, the report found.Kentucky Kids Count is a more detailed follow-up to the national ‘Kids Count’ produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which ranks all states on basic measures of child well-being. Kentucky ranked 40th and Indiana 33rd in this year’s report, released in late July…”