Utah has fewest children in single-parent families nationwide, low amount of underprivileged children: WalletHub

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah has fewer underprivileged children than most states in the U.S., and we have the fewest children in single-parent households nationwide, a recent study found.

A study from WalletHub looks at all 50 states and D.C., comparing them based on how underprivileged the children living there are. The states with the least underprivileged children are below.

1. Connecticut
2. New Jersey
3. New Hampshire
4. Maryland
5. Utah

Utah ranked as having the fifth-fewest underprivileged children nationwide overall. Key dimensions such as socio-economic welfare, health, and education were used to determine the overall score.

One of the key dimensions observed in this study was socio-economic welfare rank, measured based on metrics like the number of children in foster care, single-parent families, and in households with below-poverty incomes. In socio-economic welfare, Utah was ranked as having the least children overall in these situations.

According to the study, Utah has the second-fewest children in the foster care system, the fewest children nationwide in single-parent families, and the second-lowest percentage of children in households with below-poverty income.

Another key dimension, health, was measured based on metrics like how many children suffer from depression, how many children are maltreated, and child food-insecurity rates. Utah did not fare as well on this dimension and was ranked as having the 28th most children with an underprivileged health situation.

Utah received another middle-of-the-road ranking for the education dimension, which weighed factors like state school spending, public high school graduation rates, and their previous study on worst and best school systems. The reason Utah likely ranked 24th overall is due to the state’s very low spending on education.

For more information about the methodology and other states ranked in this study, visit WalletHub’s website.