By Nadia Ramlagan
A new report shows West Virginia has improved the well-being of its children but the Mountain State still ranks the in the bottom tier of states for measures such as child poverty, education and health.
The findings come from the 2025 Kids Count Data Book released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation on Monday. According to data in the report, more than 70% of West Virginia children ages 3 and 4 are not enrolled in preschool, the second-highest rate of absence in the country. It showed 9% of West Virginia teens ages 16-19 are not attending school nor working.
Sean O’Leary, senior policy analyst for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said it all links back to COVID-19.
“A lot of that is due to coming out of the pandemic,” O’Leary explained. “Students are going back to school. There weren’t as many students learning virtually.”
West Virginia also saw reductions in the share of children living with parents who lack secure employment and those living in households with a high housing cost burden. Positive national trends observed in the report include a decline in child poverty.
Leslie Boissiere, vice president of external affairs for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said as federal lawmakers debate cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP, she hopes the unbiased data in this report gets a strong look ahead of any final moves.
“I think it’s critically important that policymakers look at the data on food security in their community, that they look at the data on access to health care, that they look at what has been effective in driving child well-being,” Boissiere urged.
Cuts to SNAP and Medicaid put children at risk of malnutrition, obesity, and chronic disease, and lack of Medicaid access means uninsured kids are more likely to be left without a regular health care provider, according to the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality.
