The disparities between the haves and have nots among Rhode Island’s youth impacts everything from education to safety to mental health and economic opportunity. It’s all contained in the annual Kids Count Factbook being released this morning at the annual Kids Count event.
Among the major changes is that Newport has been added to a small group of communities experiencing the highest levels of child poverty in Rhode Island. Some 69 percent of Rhode Island children living in poverty come from Central Falls, Newport, Pawtucket, Providence and Woonsocket, according to this year’s Factbook.
The Factbook measures conditions of Rhode Island’s youth for 67 indicators across five “areas of child well-being,” Kids Count said. This is the 32nd Kids Count breakfast event unveiling the annual Factbook.
“All areas of child well-being are interrelated and critical throughout a child’s development,” Kids Count said. “A child’s safety in their family and community affects school performance; a child’s economic security affects that child’s health and education.”
Newport attained its new status “because its child poverty rate was the same or higher than Pawtucket’s for the past few years, showing a change in where child poverty is concentrated,” the Factbook said. “These five communities deserve special attention because they are where child poverty is most concentrated.”
The findings in the Factbook often support Kids Count’s legislative initiative, support other legislative initiatives and are used to lobby against others.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting specific areas of the Factbook. Here is some of what is contained in this year’s Factbook:
- From 2010 to 2010 the state’s child population (children under 18) declined 6.3 percent to 209,785, while the state’s overall population increased by 4.3 percent to 1,097,379. Only four communities experienced growth among the under 18 population – Central Falls (13.6 percent), Cumberland (0.2 percent), East Greenwich (0.8 percent), and North Providence (5.2 percent). On Aquidneck Island, all communities saw declining youth population – Jamestown (-16.5 percent), Little Compton (-13.1 percent), Middletown (-4.5 percent), Newport (-10.4 percent), Portsmouth (-13.8 percent), and Tiverton (-9.2 percent).
- Disparities in median family income varies widely among communities. Between 2020 and 2024, the Factbook found, for instance, median family income in Newport at $51,216 and median family income in Portsmouth of $192,926. The highest in the state in East Greenwich and Jamestown are at more than $250,000, and the lowest is Central Falls at $35,063.
- Nearly 2000 (1,963) children in schools are homeless across all schools in Rhode Island. Homeless is defined as those unhoused, living in shelters, or couch surfacing (moving from one household to another).
- Nearly a third of children (32 percent) in Newport were living in poverty from 2020-2024. That’s 1,053 children. In other core cities, some 33 percent or 1,977 children live in poverty in Central Falls; some 17 percent or 2,882 children live in poverty in Pawtucket; some 28 percent or 10,515 children live in poverty in Providence; and some 28 percent or 2,828 children live in poverty in Woonsocket.
- According to Factbook, some 18 percent of young adults, 18 to 24, lived in poverty from 2020 to 2024.
