A new report shows that as Rhode Island becomes more diverse, its populations of color continue to suffer inequities in education, health and economic security.
Rhode Island Children Matterthe nonprofit advocacy group focused on children’s well-being, released its annual factbook Monday, showing persistent youth poverty.
According to the report: “Between 2018 and 2022, 53% of Native American children, 38% of Hispanic children, and 22% of Black children in Rhode Island lived in poverty, followed by 11% of Asian/Pacific Islander children and 8% of white children. “.
Most of these numbers are down slightly from the previous year’s report, which looked at statistics from 2017 to 2021. However, Hispanic child poverty is up 8 percentage points.
More: The RI Kids Count factbook is out. What does it say about the state of RI’s children?
“Children are more likely to identify as people of color than adults in our state, and as our young people age, if we don’t reduce the disparity, it will just continue,” said Paige Clausius, superintendent executive of Rhode Island Kids Count. Parks. “And as our population continues to become more diverse, these disparities become greater and greater.”
Other ongoing problems include obesity, which affects Hispanic and black children at higher rates than any other population. The report says 32 percent of Hispanic children are obese, while 28 percent of black children are, although those numbers are each down one percentage point from the previous year’s report.
Lead exposure also remains one of many additional health crises disproportionately affecting children of color in Rhode Island, as Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls and Woonsocket “have more than twice the rate of children with high blood levels” of lead, according to the report. No blood lead level is considered safe.
More: A Central Falls couple’s twins were in trouble. Then a blood test showed elevated lead levels.
A positive point: absenteeism decreases after great efforts to send children to school
Despite the many issues raised in the report, there are some bright spots, such as declining truancy among Rhode Island students.
Last school year, “25% of all Rhode Island children in grades K-3 were chronically absent, and 33% of Rhode Island children in grades 9-12 were chronically absent,” the report states . “This is down from last year, when 31% of all Rhode Island children in grades K-3 were chronically absent, and 38% of Rhode Island children in grades 9-12 were chronically absent.”
More: Truancy is increasing in Rhode Island schools. How does the state go about it?
It’s a big win for the state, which had launched an advertising campaign to raise awareness that missing two days of school a month makes a child chronically absent. The end of the pandemic was also likely a major factor in the increase in school attendance.
Clausius-Parks also highlighted federal pandemic relief funds from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund that have helped districts.
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