New Data Spotlight from County Health Rankings, which focuses on children living in poverty in the healthiest county in each state, highlights that averages can hide disparities between racial and ethnic groups.
Poverty can be overlooked in healthy counties where averages hide the experiences of those who are being excluded from opportunities to thrive. In nearly all counties where data are available, a greater share of Black, Hispanic, and Native American children live in poverty. Disparities exist in the healthiest county in nearly all 50 states, even though the percentage of children living in poverty is lower than the national average in all but three. The averages may obscure troubling patterns. When children within a county live widely varied experiences, county-level averages can hide the need for action.
Read more:
- County Health Rankings: https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/reports/children-living-in-poverty